US -> Ireland Salary comparison

Tycho47

I currently live in the US, in a suburban area, and make US$70,000/year pre-tax, US$50,000 post-tax. My wife works as well, but we essentially live on my portion of the income and save her portion. As we have no idea what she'll find for a job in Ireland, I'm assuming we'll have my income there to live on, while whatever she's able to make will become our savings. We live comfortably - rent a nice 1BR apartment, drive decent cars, eat out about once a week, etc etc.

I have an offer outside of Dublin (Dublin 15) of €60,000/year (€44,000 take-home after taxes etc). What sort of standard of living can we expect at that salary? I've looked at all kinds of cost of living calculators, but they all tend to compare big city to big city, and as this is basically a suburb to suburb move, I have no idea how accurate they are. I'm just curious what sort of living situation we could expect for 2 people on €44,000 take-home, outside but near Dublin.

Thanks!

Janedoe10

Does your wife plan to work as well once ye are settled in ? Are ye planning to rent or buy . ? U have to factor in costs of travel . If u have kids ?

Just found this link http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Ireland&city=Dublin

Tycho47

She will, but it's a complete unknown if she'll be able to find a job, and what she'd be able to make.

We plan to rent, at least to start. We'd only buy after being there for a few years, if it looked like we were going to stay permanently.

No kids, and absolutely no plans for them.

And thanks for the link - I think I've looked at that before. It's so hard to figure out what it's "actually" like to live in an area on a given salary going off of averages like that, but it's a start.

Janedoe10

There is another site askaboutmoney.ie . Check the money make over section u would get a good idea of living expenses on a monthly basis . Rental costs in Ireland have not dropped that much although there is a recession but there a good few sites for that daft.ie would be the most popular .
I'm sure others on this will give u other places to get other links to help u in your decision .

doolox

Figure 1.65 euro ( 2 dollars ) per litre or 8 dollars per US gallon for gas. Apartments in a decent area figure 1,200 to 1,500 per calender month also Utilities, gas electricity phone etc are high. We pay 120 pm on electricity and 100 pm on fuel during the 6 months of winter, Winters are mild here and summers are relatively cool so low demands for heating/cooling costs compared to continental US but fuel is dear.

Health insurance is gone very dear but not as mad as the US. Health service is heavily overloaded and antiquated, accident and emergency is a joke.

As a US citizen, certain Irish habits related to drink and drink related accidents and emergencies will amaze and disgust you, on a positive note gun related incidents are relatively rare and car accident rates have improved in recent years.

As you don't have children and dont intend to have any you will be spared the huge costs of bringing up children here, childminding, university education health care costs are huge when you have unhealthy children......

From my own personal experience I have a brother in law who made the move from San Francisco to the West of Ireland and stuck it out for 2 years. They then moved back, initially to Colorado and then to San Diego. They cited quality of jobs on offer and the WEATHER as the main deficits in Ireland.

Our high unemployment allows employers in general to treat employees in a less financially generous way than in the US. However employment laws kick in after 2 years which make actual firing rare. More likely are "phantom" and "pheonix" companies which close down, go broke and leave their employees high and dry. The bosses of these companies then set up new companies in a new name with new employees who lack the protection which comes after 2 years of service. If you stick to big name multinationals and public service employers they are among the best going.....

It has been my experience that Irish employers will not confront difficulties or performance mismatches directly but will replace deficient employees in a circuitous manner. Ask for and try to get feedback in a regular way and try to get it recorded in writing so as to avoid unpleasant surprises.

petethebrick

€44k take home salary would enable you to have quite a good standard of living here.
If you are living in Dublin 15 you will be able to rent a really nice house or apartment for around €1k - €1.2k
If you have an active social life you might not be able to save too much of that salary for two people

irishguy

Tycho47 wrote: »

I currently live in the US, in a suburban area, and make US$70,000/year pre-tax, US$50,000 post-tax. My wife works as well, but we essentially live on my portion of the income and save her portion. As we have no idea what she'll find for a job in Ireland, I'm assuming we'll have my income there to live on, while whatever she's able to make will become our savings. We live comfortably - rent a nice 1BR apartment, drive decent cars, eat out about once a week, etc etc.

I have an offer outside of Dublin (Dublin 15) of €60,000/year (€44,000 take-home after taxes etc). What sort of standard of living can we expect at that salary? I've looked at all kinds of cost of living calculators, but they all tend to compare big city to big city, and as this is basically a suburb to suburb move, I have no idea how accurate they are. I'm just curious what sort of living situation we could expect for 2 people on €44,000 take-home, outside but near Dublin.

Thanks!

You would have a fairly good standard of living (even better if your wife found a job too) central dublin wouldnt be that much more (except for housing) than Dublin 15.

Have a look at these links and you should be able to figure out for yourself:

Housing
daft.ie/

Food
tesco.ie
lidl.ie
aldi.ie

Insurance
Chill.ie
insure.ie

Banking
aib.ie
bankofireland.ie

tv/internet
upc.ie

Phone
meteor.ie
vodafone.ie
eircom.ie

transport
dublinbus.ie
luas.ie

Government run site with general information

www.citizensinformation.ie/

doolox

....but with only two people to accommodate Central Dublin might work out cheaper than the suburbs when commuting, taxis at night, and being in the social loop may be considered more important than more family oriented things such as schools, parks etc...

In general it may be possible to rent a small apartment closer to work in the centre than a 3/4 bdrm house if you don't need all the rooms.

irishguy

doolox wrote: »

....but with only two people to accommodate Central Dublin might work out cheaper than the suburbs when commuting, taxis at night, and being in the social loop may be considered more important than more family oriented things such as schools, parks etc...

In general it may be possible to rent a small apartment closer to work in the centre than a 3/4 bdrm house if you don't need all the rooms.

Agreed, but he has a job offer in D15 so it wouldn't be cheaper. If I was to move to another country I would live more central so your in the middle of everything for the first bit.

Bandana boy

doolox wrote: »

Figure 1.65 euro ( 2 dollars ) per litre or 8 dollars per US gallon for gas. Apartments in a decent area figure 1,200 to 1,500 per calender month also Utilities, gas electricity phone etc are high. We pay 120 pm on electricity and 100 pm on fuel during the 6 months of winter, Winters are mild here and summers are relatively cool so low demands for heating/cooling costs compared to continental US but fuel is dear.

Health insurance is gone very dear but not as mad as the US. Health service is heavily overloaded and antiquated, accident and emergency is a joke.

As a US citizen, certain Irish habits related to drink and drink related accidents and emergencies will amaze and disgust you, on a positive note gun related incidents are relatively rare and car accident rates have improved in recent years.

As you don't have children and dont intend to have any you will be spared the huge costs of bringing up children here, childminding, university education health care costs are huge when you have unhealthy children......

From my own personal experience I have a brother in law who made the move from San Francisco to the West of Ireland and stuck it out for 2 years. They then moved back, initially to Colorado and then to San Diego. They cited quality of jobs on offer and the WEATHER as the main deficits in Ireland.

Our high unemployment allows employers in general to treat employees in a less financially generous way than in the US. However employment laws kick in after 2 years which make actual firing rare. More likely are "phantom" and "pheonix" companies which close down, go broke and leave their employees high and dry. The bosses of these companies then set up new companies in a new name with new employees who lack the protection which comes after 2 years of service. If you stick to big name multinationals and public service employers they are among the best going.....

It has been my experience that Irish employers will not confront difficulties or performance mismatches directly but will replace deficient employees in a circuitous manner. Ask for and try to get feedback in a regular way and try to get it recorded in writing so as to avoid unpleasant surprises.

You have pretty much completely reversed reality here.
Health and child education and university are a fraction of the cost in Ireland compared to the US
Most Irish companies will offer healthcare for you and your family which will cost you circa €600-800 Euro a year in benefit in kind for full private cover.
The standards of healthcare would be very similar and prescription meds are a fraction of the cost here compared to the US ,and regardless of Salary the govt cover anything over €120 a month.
Public schools here would far outscore public schools in the US.

Drink Driving is far more prevalent in the US than in Ireland were it is pretty much looked upon with scorn ,we have strict laws on Blood Alcohol levels and you are subject to random breathalyser tests and mandatory tests in the case of an accident.

Irish Employment legislation is far more protective of the employee than the US, the shock would be how hard it is to lose a job here after securing your permanency compared to the US and how generous the severance packages are compared to the US.
At the top end of the market US salary remuneration would be higher but the average salary in Ireland is substantially higher than the US and you will see nowhere near the differences around Ireland as you would see in the US.

Taxation in Ireland is higher than the US and VAT on goods so you will see a big disparity on the cost of food and consumer goods.

At OP
Dublin 15 rental rates will have fairly vast ranges
A good Location like Castleknock can leave you with little change from €1500 a month for a very average sized flat or house ,while parts of Blanchardstown would be as cheap as €600 a month.
you have a good few commuting options though that will give you some interesting options at good prices.

Dublin 15 is also very close to the City for social life and would have both Rail and Bus options to et in and out .In terms of distance you are inside 10 miles from the centre of Dublin.

Running a car here is expensive compared to the US so managing your commuting distance can be important.But you will find insurance on your car a lot cheaper than the US once you get a couple of years experience and no claims behind you.

gral6

Did you already get your green card or work permit ?
Your wife gonna need it as well if she's gonna work.
It is actually next to impossible to get one now

Tycho47

Thanks for all the great info, everyone. It's definitely been helpful in putting the salary in to perspective - I'm feeling a lot better about taking the job now.

-I considered looking at places more central to the city (I spent a few months here a couple years ago, and stayed in an apartment in the city), but between cost and the commute, we're probably going to look at something closer to D15. While being in the city might make things closer for socialization, I'd rather have an easier commute/live somewhere cheaper, and head in to the city on weekends.

-I don't yet have a green card, but that's all being set in to motion ASAP. As for my wife, as long as my green card goes through without issue, she'll be able to get a spousal work permit no problem, so I'm not terribly worried there. I was more worried about her being able to find a job period, but we've already found a couple strong leads for her and it's looking good she'll have something shortly after our move.