City comparison
Cost of living in Dublin vs Barcelona
One person needs about €3,040 a month in Dublin and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Barcelona is 31% cheaper overall.
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 Barcelona the way you live in Dublin on €3,000, you need
€2,077/ month net
31% less than today (-€923)
- Dublin today
- Basket €3,040 · left over -€40 (-1%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over -€28 (-1%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (adequate) 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
🇪🇸 Barcelona
Beach-and-metro city with the deepest startup scene in southern Europe — and rents that now reflect it.
Monthly budget: €2,105
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & Encuesta de arrendamientos (2025) · 412 community reports
Should you move to Dublin or Barcelona?
On salary, Dublin pays more for tech roles (€5,200 versus €2,800 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,160 in Dublin at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €2,100 in Dublin against €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Dublin at 63 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.