The urban/rural divide has long been the subject of debate. CSO data, published this week, presents new and importance evidence which for the first time estimates earnings based on where people live – in other words whether they live in cities, commuter towns, more rural towns or remote rural areas. The data contain some fascinating insights on where and how we live and how this affects what we earn.

1. Where we live

Over recent years, Ireland has become more urban. With just under one in three people now living in rural areas (31.4 per cent), we are now not far out of line with the EU average (27.3 per cent). Definitions of urban and rural differ a bit: the CSO in this publication has used characteristics similar to those used in other EU countries.