Country guide · Ireland
Moving to Ireland: cost of living, salaries, taxes, visas
EU member, English-speaking, with a Dublin tech hub that absorbs much of the inbound-talent flow; very tight housing market.
Ireland is the only English-speaking EU member after Brexit, which has concentrated US-tech European HQs in Dublin (Google, Meta, Stripe, LinkedIn, Workday). For English-fluent professionals targeting EU work, Ireland often clears the language barrier other destinations create.
The trade-off is housing. Dublin's rental market has been one of Europe's tightest for years — supply hasn't kept pace with corporate-driven demand. Outside Dublin, cost-of-living drops materially (Galway, Cork, Limerick) but the senior-IC job market is thinner.
At a glance
Ireland relocation profile
Mundevo coverage in Ireland
Dublin is the anchor city for cost-of-living and corridor calculations involving Ireland.
| City | Cost index | Rent index | Safety | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 87 | 85 | 60 | 1,400,000 |
Tax and visa landscape
Headline tax model + entry-point visa overview for relocators.
- Effective income tax: 25.0%
- Social security (employee): 4.0%
- Total payroll deduction: 29.0%
- VAT: 23.0%
- Currency: EUR
Effective rates assume a single salaried filer at country median wage. Special regimes (e.g. expat-favoring schemes) are not applied here — see the visa guide for those.
Visa categories, residency routes, and tax-regime context for relocators are detailed in the dedicated visa guide.
Ireland visa guide →Salary bands at Dublin — by role
Illustrative gross-salary bands for 6 senior IC roles in Dublin. Derived from NYC anchor × Ireland pay-tier multiplier. Cross-check Levels.fyi, Glassdoor before negotiating.
| Role | P25 | P50 | P75 | NYC anchor (P50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | €67,130 | €83,333 | €106,481 | $180,000 |
| Product manager | €69,444 | €90,278 | €120,370 | $195,000 |
| UX / product designer | €45,833 | €60,417 | €81,250 | $145,000 |
| Marketing manager | €39,583 | €54,167 | €72,917 | $130,000 |
| Data scientist | €62,500 | €81,019 | €106,481 | $175,000 |
| Finance analyst | €50,926 | €71,759 | €101,852 | $155,000 |
Top relocation corridors
Closest peers by cost-of-living index — the moves most commonly considered alongside Ireland.