Cost of living in Ireland — rent €1,001–€2,165/mo by county
Cost of living snapshot — Ireland 2025
Cost of living by county — rent, house prices, and Census 2022
Average monthly rent (CSO / RTB · 2025Q4), median house price (Property Price Register), Census 2022 home ownership rate, and Census non-employment rate. All 26 counties.
| County | Avg Rent | Median House Price | % Owner-Occupied | Not in work* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dublin | €2,165/mo | €493,010 | 58.5% | 8.2% |
| 2. Wicklow | €1,751/mo | €465,000 | 71.2% | 8.3% |
| 3. Kildare | €1,734/mo | €433,500 | 71.3% | 7.3% |
| 4. Limerick | €1,681/mo | €290,000 | 64.6% | 8.6% |
| 5. Galway | €1,665/mo | €361,700 | 66.1% | 7.9% |
| 6. Cork | €1,566/mo | €349,500 | 66.2% | 6.8% |
| 7. Meath | €1,558/mo | €391,000 | 75.2% | 7.4% |
| 8. Louth | €1,454/mo | €298,250 | 66.6% | 10.9% |
| 9. Carlow | €1,349/mo | €294,000 | 64.8% | 9.5% |
| 10. Westmeath | €1,285/mo | €300,000 | 67.6% | 9.5% |
| 11. Waterford | €1,284/mo | €270,000 | 64.6% | 9.2% |
| 12. Laois | €1,270/mo | €280,000 | 71.1% | 8.9% |
| 13. Offaly | €1,219/mo | €270,000 | 71.6% | 9.4% |
| 14. Kerry | €1,218/mo | €290,000 | 69.9% | 9.0% |
| 15. Clare | €1,217/mo | €288,000 | 71.9% | 8.1% |
| 16. Kilkenny | €1,216/mo | €297,000 | 71.6% | 8.0% |
| 17. Sligo | €1,203/mo | €245,000 | 67.0% | 8.4% |
| 18. Wexford | €1,203/mo | €290,000 | 69.8% | 9.8% |
| 19. Longford | €1,140/mo | €195,000 | 60.8% | 10.7% |
| 20. Mayo | €1,135/mo | €226,000 | 72.8% | 8.9% |
| 21. Cavan | €1,129/mo | €245,000 | 69.2% | 9.3% |
| 22. Roscommon | €1,115/mo | €220,000 | 74.1% | 8.4% |
| 23. Tipperary | €1,101/mo | €250,000 | 69.3% | 7.7% |
| 24. Monaghan | €1,050/mo | €220,000 | 70.6% | 8.2% |
| 25. Leitrim | €1,019/mo | €220,000 | 70.8% | 9.3% |
| 26. Donegal | €1,001/mo | €200,000 | 70.0% | 10.6% |
Rent: CSO / RTB · 2025Q4. House price: Property Price Register · 2026. Ownership: Census 2022. *Not in work = Census 2022 economic status — includes students, homemakers, retired, and long-term sick as a share of population; county figures of 40–50% are expected and reflect all economic inactivity, not the ILO unemployment rate (~5%).
What Census 2022 tells us about living costs
- Housing tenure as a cost signal: Areas with low home ownership typically have high renting costs — the correlation across Ireland's 3,420 EDs is strong. Dublin's inner city has private renting rates above 55% in many EDs, directly reflecting high rents and barriers to purchase. See home ownership rates by county.
- Unemployment and income trade-off: The west and border counties (Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon) combine affordable housing with above-average unemployment. The calculation for relocators: lower housing cost, potentially lower wages. For remote workers this trade-off has shifted significantly since 2022.
- Education and earnings proxy: Third-level attainment in Census 2022 is the strongest available proxy for area income. Dublin and its commuter belt have the highest third-level rates — 55–65% in many south Dublin EDs — correlating directly with the highest housing costs.
- Transport and commute cost: Areas 40–80km from Dublin offer significantly lower housing costs but add commuting costs. The real cost differential requires accounting for transport — a Kildare resident saving €500/month on rent may spend €250–350 on monthly rail travel.
Most affordable counties for different situations
For remote workers: Leitrim, Roscommon, Donegal, and Longford offer the lowest housing costs nationally and have seen the strongest remote-work adoption since 2022. See Leitrim and Donegal Census profiles for the full picture.
For families buying a first home: Laois, Carlow, Longford, Westmeath, and Offaly offer the best combination of affordable purchase prices, reasonable employment access, and school infrastructure. See the full house price ranking for all 26 counties.
For young professionals: Limerick and Waterford cities offer strong employment (pharma, tech, retail) at roughly half Dublin's housing cost. See Limerick and Waterford county profiles.
The 2.2× rent gap between Dublin and the cheapest county is the sharpest inter-county cost divergence in the EU. For remote workers the arbitrage is real: same salary, a fraction of the housing cost. The map above shows where the gradient falls most steeply.
Explore cost data on the map
IrelandInsights maps Census 2022 housing tenure, unemployment, and education for every electoral division — combined with live house prices from the Property Price Register and official CSO rental data.
Explore by county
Rent prices by county → · House prices by county → · Housing crisis →
More IrelandInsights reports
- → Average Rent Ireland — €/mo by County
- → House Prices Ireland by County — Official PPR Data
- → House Price-to-Income Ratio Ireland — by County
- → BER Rating Chart Ireland — E–G Homes by County
- → Ireland’s Housing Crisis — Where It’s Worst
- → Empty Homes in Ireland — Vacancy by County
- → Cheapest Areas to Buy in Ireland — House Prices
- → Home Ownership in Ireland — Census 2022
- → Pobal Deprivation Index — All 26 Counties Mapped
- → Average Age in Ireland — by County
- → Fastest Growing Towns in Ireland — Census 2022
- → Religion in Ireland by County — Census 2022
- → Unemployment Rate Ireland — By Area, Census 2022
- → Education in Ireland — Third-Level by County
- → Working from Home in Ireland — Census 2022
- → Young Population in Ireland — Census 2022
- → Rural Ireland — Census 2022 Data by Area