Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Dublin vs Copenhagen

One person needs about €3,040 a month in Dublin and €2,563 in Copenhagen, rent included — Copenhagen is 16% cheaper overall.

🇮🇪
Dublin
Ireland · 1.2M pop
vs
🇩🇰
Copenhagen
Denmark · 1.3M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€2,100€1,700
19% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€400€400
0% pricier
Eating out (meal)
€20€20
0% pricier
Internet (100mbps)
€50€38
24% cheaper
Avg salary (tech)
€5,200€5,300
2% higher
Coworking / mo
€330€300
9% cheaper
DublinCopenhagen
Rent€2,100€1,700
Groceries€400€400
Transport€140€85
Utilities€190€180

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

€2,529/ month net

16% less than today (-€471)

Dublin today
Basket €3,040 · left over -€40 (-1%)
Copenhagen at the matched salary
Basket €2,563 · left over -€34 (-1%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 207% over in Copenhagen (strong) 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

🇩🇰 Copenhagen

Cycling city with high taxes that buy genuinely good public services.

Monthly budget: €2,563

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

Should you move to Dublin or Copenhagen?

On salary, Copenhagen pays more for tech roles (€5,300 versus €5,200 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,737 in Copenhagen at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €2,100 in Dublin against €1,700 in Copenhagen. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

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

More Dublin comparisons

More Copenhagen comparisons