Cost of living in Cork v Dublin

spitonmedickie

Hi, not sure someone can give me much definitive answers on this but the perspectives of anyone who's recently moved from Dublin to Cork would be very welcome!

Originally from Cork and after 6 years in Dublin I'm seriously looking at moving back for all sorts of reasons, family etc would be a big one. Getting a job with the same salary I have in Dublin might prove tricky though - from what I can see I'd be looking at maybe a 12% drop in salary pre tax.

Likely to live with my folks for a bit at first so that will save some money but all things considered rents aren't *that* much cheaper from a quick look on Daft. More diesel costs too. Are house prices much less?

So, apart from that has anyone else noticed a big different in the cost of living? Is it going to be 12% cheaper to live there? And if anyone else has moved back recently I'd love to hear how you're getting on.

Mushy

Guess it depends on where you'd be renting/buying here and where you are in Dublin to see where the differences will be. That 12% difference in salary won't be set in stone either

Mushy

Guess it depends on where you'd be renting/buying here and where you are in Dublin to see where the differences will be. That 12% difference in salary won't be set in stone either

MrDerp

I did this 5 years ago. Rents were a bit cheaper then but essentially we ended up renting a bigger house for the same money. We bought a year later and got a house we couldn’t have dreamed of in Dublin in terms of location and size.

On the salary front you might be surprised. I moved down for more money but I did my previous job with 3-4 days working from home for years first. Don’t believe everything you read on the recruitment sites re: salary ranges. I’d estimate that they represent the middle 50-60%, based on what I know of the salaries of colleagues and friends. I’m paid above the upper end of what Morgan McKinley suggests for Dublin for my role. Negotiate hard it’s an employees market, especially if you work in IT or pharma. If you’re good at what you do you can get a ‘Dublin’ salary.

As for your cost of living, it’s better. Everything is a little bit cheaper, particularly a meal or night out, and it all adds up.

But the main benefit is time. It’s amazing the difference in time you have when a trip to the shops isn’t a full Saturday, when you don’t have to use a full weekend to attend a family occasion, or a birthday. I was amazed at how much better our weekends were when we moved, as we didn’t have to build it around occasions, you simply pop out for a few hours. In Dublin it was an all day trip just to go to a shopping centre or town, and a weekend to attend eg a niece’s birthday - now we regularly pop into town for an hour or two for lunch and a walk around and call to family for a coffee in the same trip.

Good luck with the move, it’s a great call for lifestyle. You lose some things like matches and concerts but you get over it.

clerk

A buddy of mine who's from Mayo, moved down to Cork after working in Dublin for 10 Years plus. The biggest saving to him was time, he says he saved himself hours in the car every Day. He was able to rent an equivalent house in Cork bang in the centre for the same price he was paying miles out in Dublin. Also, he'd mad into his sport so now he's able to do the drops for the kids and even coach, so he much prefers it.

I'm told that rent has gone way up in Cork in the last 18 months but it would still be miles off Dublin rates. Rents in the City are gone up but if you move out and are willing to commute as most of Dublin does you'll make big savings.

In my experience salaries are a good bit higher in Dublin, partially to reflect the cost of living. A 12% drop doesn't sound to bad, by the time you pay the tax man roughly half of it it's 6%. You've save loads in fuel, time and even do a bit of overtime to make up the gap if it's going.

The general cost of everything in Dublin is more expensive in Dublin in my experience. l was talking to a plumber recently and he said that they often charge 25% more for parts in Dublin (to make up for the time spent wasted sitting in their van going to the job) and it's always paid up no question asked.

For an approx 6% drop in your net salary l'd say as a lifestyle move it's a no brainer, particularly if family comes into play. Schools become a huge factor, the school drop in Dublin is a head wrecker, in Cork it's miles easier.

Dublin is a great spot in your 20s, if you're single after that l would recommend to move for lifestyle quality. Obviously the event and sporting calendar up there is fabulous, concerts, Aviva, Croke Park etc, but then you'd want to be on a fortune to actually make these events regularly.

spitonmedickie

Thanks for the replies, definitely lots of food for thought there!