$280,000 in Austin ≈ €342,660 in Dublin
Moving to Dublin from Austin with a family
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
What changes: Austin → Dublin
- ▴ 7 more vacation days per year in Dublin (statutory)
- ▴ 22 more paid parental-leave weeks (22 vs 0)
- ▴ Universal healthcare in Dublin (no premium / minimal OOP)
- ▴ Childcare drops ~$15k/yr in Dublin (subsidized)
- ▾ Income + payroll tax runs 41.6% in Dublin vs 19.8% in Austin
- ▾ Housing runs about 53% more in Dublin
The headline math
| Austin household gross | $280,000 |
| Austin taxes (19.8%) | −$55,425 |
| Austin living costs | −$88,761 |
| Austin net cash | $135,815 |
| ≈ | |
| Dublin household gross needed | €342,660($390,718) |
| Dublin taxes (41.6%) | −€142,567 |
| Dublin living costs | −€80,984 |
| Dublin net cash | €119,109 |
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, Austin (a family with two kids) · effective tax rates: 19.8% vs 41.6%
The bottom line
- →$280,000 in Austin leaves about the same net cash as €342,660 in Dublin for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 19.8% of gross in Austin versus 41.6% in Dublin.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 7 more vacation days per year in Dublin (statutory).
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
Open the interactive calculator to run your own →No signup. Your salary stays in your browser — we never see it.
Moving from Austin to Dublin for a family
For a family of four, this comparison produces a different answer than a single-person look at the same cities. Childcare costs, parental leave policy, and the second earner's tax treatment all push the number. With a partner at 60% of the primary salary and two kids in daycare, a $280,000 household in Austin needs €342,660 in Dublin to keep the same net cash.
Childcare is the biggest single swing factor in this comparison. Austin households pay $24,900 per year; Dublin caps it at €8,600 via subsidy. That difference flows directly to net cash. A standard salary comparison won't show it at all.
Parental leave: Dublin provides 22 weeks paid vs 0 in Austin. A new child in the first year of the move is exactly the scenario where that gap shows up as real money (and real stress avoided).
With kids in the house, healthcare is the line that quietly compounds. Dublin runs a universal system, so a rough year doesn't turn into a billing event. The Austin side carries $9,085 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, exposure that simply doesn't follow you across.
K-12 schools score higher on PISA 2022 in Ireland (504 (math 492, reading 516, science 504)) than in USA (489 (math 465, reading 504, science 499)), a 15-point gap on the OECD's standardized 15-year-old assessment. PISA is one signal; local school choice and curriculum philosophy matter at least as much.
Dublin also adds 7 more vacation days per year (22 vs 15). With kids, that is school breaks actually covered without burning PTO.
The second-earner question is worth running separately. In high-childcare-cost cities, full-time daycare can eat most of a partner's after-tax income. In Dublin, subsidized childcare changes that math entirely: both salaries actually make it to the household. Use the "Partner works in" toggle in the calculator to see what that shift does to your specific numbers.
Understand what's behind these numbers
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in Dublin to match a $280,000 salary in Austin?
About €342,660. cityparity solves for the Dublin gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in Austin. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
How much is childcare in Dublin compared with Austin?
Childcare is one of the biggest swings for a family moving from Austin to Dublin. cityparity nets each city's daycare cost against any government child allowance, so the figure reflects what you'd actually pay out of pocket.
Is healthcare free in Dublin?
Dublin has universal healthcare, so there are no US-style premiums or large deductibles. cityparity counts that as real money you don't spend, which is part of why the equivalent salary is lower than the raw number suggests.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Dublin?
Dublin has about 32 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 61 weeks of parental leave. cityparity surfaces these as deltas rather than dollars, because time off is part of the real comparison.
Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →