$225,000 in San Francisco ≈ €204,894 in Dublin
Software engineer pay: San Francisco vs Dublin
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
The bottom line
- →$225,000 in San Francisco leaves about the same net cash as €204,894 in Dublin for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 30.6% of gross in San Francisco versus 40.6% in Dublin.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 20 more vacation days per year in Dublin.
Where each paycheck goes
Every unit of gross, split four ways. Same net cash, very different shape.
Full Breakdown
| Category | San Francisco | Dublin | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $225,000 | €204,894 ($237,421) | Equivalent |
| Income + payroll tax | −$68,959 (30.6%) | −€83,285 (40.6%) | A touch higher |
| Housing (rent) | −$43,307 1 bed listings typically $2,706 to $4,092 | −€27,840 1 bed listings typically €1,681 to €2,542 | ~26% less |
| Healthcare (household) | −$4,220 | −€1,980 | ~46% less |
| Food & groceries | −$10,800 | −€7,514 | ~19% less |
| Transit | −$972 | −€1,152 | ~37% more |
| Discretionary spending | −$3,750 | −€2,580 | ~20% less |
| Travel home | −$300 | −€550 | ~112% more |
| Net cash kept | $92,692 | €79,993 | Equal in real terms |
Live in either city? Flag any number that looks off.
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, San Francisco (a senior software engineer). Each figure is in the city's local currency, from the same engine as the calculator; sources are cited per row there.
What changes beyond the money
- Statutory vacation days~0 → ~20
- Total paid days off, typical year~11 → ~30
- Paid parental leave7 wks → 3 wks
- Healthcare systemEmployer / private → Employer / private
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
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Moving from San Francisco to Dublin for a software engineer
$225,000 in San Francisco requires €204,894 in Dublin to match on household net cash. The gap is real, but it is smaller than the nominal numbers suggest once taxes run their course. Progressive brackets compress the after-tax difference faster than a compensation benchmarking site would lead you to believe, because those sites show gross and stop there.
The effective tax rate goes from 30.6% in San Francisco to 40.6% in Dublin. That 10.0-point jump is what the equivalence solver is working against when it finds the matching gross salary.
Unvested equity changes this calculation entirely. RSU value is not modeled in the defaults above, but if you are mid-cycle at your current employer, leaving means forfeiting grants you have already been working toward, and that difference can be larger than the annual take-home delta that drove the comparison in the first place. The Advanced section's "RSU / stock annual value" field is where you plug that number in. Equity-heavy comp favors lower-tax cities at vesting; the after-tax discount gets larger the bigger the grant.
Both cities require private health insurance. San Francisco runs $4,220; Dublin runs €1,980.
Dublin engineers get 20 vacation days per year. San Francisco averages 0. That 20-day gap is real money at a senior IC's daily rate, and it does not show up on the offer letter.
No kids, employer healthcare, and a single high-bracket income: this is the configuration that makes San Francisco look best in a head-to-head comparison. It is also the configuration most likely to change. The family scenario page (linked below) models what shifts once childcare and a second earner enter the picture.
Who comes out ahead
Both leave you close to 40% of gross once rent and taxes are paid.
Childcare, healthcare, and leave roughly wash out between the two for families.
Dublin gives you 19 more paid days off in a typical year, none of which shows on an offer letter.
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in Dublin to match a $225,000 salary in San Francisco?
About €204,894. cityparity solves for the Dublin gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in San Francisco. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
Is healthcare free in Dublin?
Dublin does not have universal healthcare, so out-of-pocket costs are modeled the same way as in San Francisco.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Dublin?
Dublin has 30 statutory paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 46 weeks of parental leave. A public holiday landing on a weekend there is moved to a weekday, so you keep all 30 in a typical year.
Actually looking to move?
The steps this move actually takes, in the order they happen.
Sort the work permit. Your employer usually files this one, and the processing time sets your move date. Everything below waits on it.How permits work
Land the offer. €204,894 is your walk-away floor. Our negotiation guide turns it into an anchor, the scripts to hold it, and the trades to make when the base is capped.Get the scripts
Get moving quotes. Once the contract is signed, price the move itself. ReloAdvisor collects quotes for shipping and short-term housing on the Dublin end.Get quotes
Move the money. The deposit on a Dublin flat is usually due before you have a local account. Wise converts USD to EUR at the mid-market rate.Compare rates
Cover the health insurance. Most arrivals hit a gap between leaving one health system and joining the next. Allianz Care quotes interim cover for it.Get a quote
Plan the tax filing. A US passport keeps the IRS in your life in Dublin, on top of whatever Ireland wants. Taxes for Expats files the US side for Americans abroad: the exclusion, the foreign tax credit, and the catch-up program if you are already behind.Get a quote
Some links in this list pay cityparity a commission. The order follows the journey, and the comparison above never depends on it. How affiliate links work
Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →