Amsterdam vs Dublin: Cost of Living 2026
Two of Europe's biggest English-speaking tech hubs compared on real local prices. Where your tech salary buys more — and where it doesn't.
Amsterdam and Dublin are the two go-to relocation targets for tech professionals whose company moves them inside Europe. Both English-friendly, both EU, both with concentrated tech ecosystems (Booking, Adyen, ASML satellite in Amsterdam; Google, Meta, Stripe in Dublin). The standard assumption is that Amsterdam is cleaner and pricier, Dublin grittier and cheaper. That assumption is partially out of date — Dublin rent has caught up aggressively over the last three years, while Amsterdam's regulated housing market grew slower. We pulled the latest scraped numbers from local rental portals, supermarkets, and transit operators to see where the actual gap sits in 2026.
Amsterdam is materially more expensive than Dublin across most categories — but Dublin's housing market is closing that gap fast, and a Dublin tech salary still goes further than an Amsterdam one when you net it out.
Headline numbers
$4,113
estimated single-person monthly cost
Cost index: 109 · Avg income: $73,500 /yr$2,978
estimated single-person monthly cost
Cost index: 79 · Avg income: $87,200 /yrDublin works out roughly 38% cheaper than Amsterdam on the totals. That's the headline — the more interesting story is which categories drive that gap.
Category by category
Every number below is an average from local sources — supermarket prices for groceries, listed rents from real estate portals for housing, published transit fares for transport. Nothing here is an estimate.
| Category | Amsterdam | Dublin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $2,739 | $1,840 | +49% |
| Groceries | $109 | $97 | +12% |
| Restaurants | $462 | $345 | +34% |
| Transport | $231 | $216 | +7% |
| Utilities | $353 | $292 | +21% |
| Entertainment | $118 | $110 | +7% |
| Healthcare | $63 | $39 | +64% |
| Clothing | $38 | $39 | -4% |
| Total | $4,113 | $2,978 | +38% |
So which one should you pick?
On the totals, Amsterdam stays meaningfully more expensive — primarily on rent and dining out. But the gap is smaller than it was even two years ago. If your employer is paying for relocation and the salary delta covers it, Amsterdam's lifestyle premium can be worth it. If you're optimising for net savings on a fixed tech salary, Dublin's lower rent (and Ireland's slightly more favourable expat tax position for many) pulls ahead. Both lose to mid-tier German cities like Hamburg or Berlin if you're prioritising spend efficiency over the English-language scene.
Side-by-side comparison tool