The latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that Laois has the highest average gross income earners in the Midlands, but make on average less than €11,000 than earners in Kildare.
Laois households had the highest average gross income of €43,254.205.
This is ahead of Offaly on €41,271, Westmeath on €42,332 and Longford, which has one of the lowest household incomes in the country on €34,892.
These figures are based on 2016 Census records.
Households in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median income in 2016 at €66,203, followed by Fingal (€58,795) and Kildare (€54,472).
Households with the lowest incomes were in Donegal (€32,259), Leitrim (€34,800) and Longford (€34,892).
Meanwhile, the same release from the CSO showed that Laois was the lowest county in the midlands to have households where the working age social welfare was the majority of income.
A household where over half of its gross income came from working age social welfare (excluding child benefits and state pension) was considered majority of income.
Average household figures in Laois where this was the case is 16 percent, while it’s 16.9 percent in Offaly and 16.1 percent in Westmeath.
One in five households in Longford (20.4 percent) and Carlow (18.6 percent) received the majority of their income from working age social welfare payments.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest proportion of households where the majority of gross income came from working age social welfare at 5.8 percent in 2016.
Laois is also the county in the midlands whereby the proportion of households where a state pension was the majority of income.
For Laois, this is the case in 12.1 percent of households, compared to 14.2 percent in Offaly, 12.3 percent in Westmeath, and 15.4 percent in Longford.
Fingal had the lowest proportion of households in the Republic of Ireland where state pension was majority of income at 6.9 percent.
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