Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Dublin vs Amsterdam

One person needs about €3,040 a month in Dublin and €2,767 in Amsterdam, rent included — Amsterdam is 9% cheaper overall.

🇮🇪
Dublin
Ireland · 1.2M pop
vs
🇳🇱
Amsterdam
Netherlands · 920K pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€2,100€1,900
10% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€400€370
8% cheaper
Eating out (meal)
€20€19
5% cheaper
Internet (100mbps)
€50€45
10% cheaper
Avg salary (tech)
€5,200€5,000
4% lower
Coworking / mo
€330€320
3% cheaper
DublinAmsterdam
Rent€2,100€1,900
Groceries€400€370
Transport€140€100
Utilities€190€200

Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle

Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.

To live in Amsterdam the way you live in Dublin on €3,000, you need

€2,731/ month net

9% less than today (-€269)

Dublin today
Basket €3,040 · left over -€40 (-1%)
Amsterdam at the matched salary
Basket €2,767 · left over -€36 (-1%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 181% over in Amsterdam (comfortable) vs 171% in Dublin. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇮🇪 Dublin

Big-tech salaries almost entirely absorbed by a chronic housing shortage.

Monthly budget: €3,040

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

🇳🇱 Amsterdam

High pay and a 30% ruling for expats, wiped out by one of Europe's tightest housing markets.

Monthly budget: €2,767

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

Should you move to Dublin or Amsterdam?

On salary, Dublin pays more for tech roles (€5,200 versus €5,000 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,233 in Amsterdam at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €2,100 in Dublin against €1,900 in Amsterdam. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Dublin at 63 and Amsterdam at 70 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Dublin comparisons

More Amsterdam comparisons