What salary do you need to buy a house in Ireland?
About €88,875 a year. The median home sold for €395,000 in the twelve months to 2026 May, and a first-time buyer borrowing 90% of that needs €355,500 — which has to sit inside the Central Bank's 4× gross income limit. You also need €39,500 in cash for the 10% deposit. In Dublin, where the median is €500,000, it takes roughly €112,500.
That income sits at about the 86th percentile of Irish earners — so buying at the median price on a single salary asks for well above a median wage. Check where your own income ranks.
What you need, county by county
Median price is the CSO figure for the twelve months to 2026 May. Income needed is for a first-time buyer at 4× gross with a 10% deposit, and can be met by two salaries combined. The last column is the price-to-earnings ratio: median price divided by median full-time earnings in that county, where the CSO publishes one.
| County / area | Median price | Deposit | Income needed | Percentile | Price ÷ earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | €687,500 | €68,750 | €154,688 | 97th | — |
| Dublin | €500,000 | €50,000 | €112,500 | 93rd | 9.3× |
| South Dublin | €483,326 | €48,333 | €108,748 | 92nd | — |
| Dublin City | €482,000 | €48,200 | €108,450 | 92nd | — |
| Fingal | €480,500 | €48,050 | €108,113 | 92nd | — |
| Wicklow | €470,000 | €47,000 | €105,750 | 92nd | 9.3× |
| Kildare | €443,750 | €44,375 | €99,844 | 90th | 8.4× |
| Meath | €425,000 | €42,500 | €95,625 | 89th | 8.4× |
| Galway City | €412,500 | €41,250 | €92,813 | 88th | — |
| Cork County | €398,875 | €39,888 | €89,747 | 86th | — |
| Louth | €369,888 | €36,989 | €83,225 | 84th | — |
| Galway County | €368,124 | €36,812 | €82,828 | 84th | — |
| Laois | €362,750 | €36,275 | €81,619 | 83rd | — |
| Limerick County | €355,500 | €35,550 | €79,988 | 83rd | — |
| Waterford County | €345,664 | €34,566 | €77,774 | 82nd | — |
| Cork City | €345,375 | €34,538 | €77,709 | 82nd | — |
| Kilkenny | €341,557 | €34,156 | €76,850 | 81st | — |
| Westmeath | €326,250 | €32,625 | €73,406 | 80th | — |
| Wexford | €319,000 | €31,900 | €71,775 | 79th | — |
| Waterford City | €310,544 | €31,054 | €69,872 | 78th | — |
| Clare | €307,750 | €30,775 | €69,244 | 77th | — |
| Kerry | €298,000 | €29,800 | €67,050 | 76th | — |
| Limerick City | €291,750 | €29,175 | €65,644 | 75th | — |
| Carlow | €287,000 | €28,700 | €64,575 | 74th | — |
| Offaly | €286,000 | €28,600 | €64,350 | 74th | — |
| Sligo | €279,265 | €27,927 | €62,835 | 73rd | — |
| Tipperary | €275,250 | €27,525 | €61,931 | 72nd | — |
| Monaghan | €273,750 | €27,375 | €61,594 | 72nd | 6.6× |
| Cavan | €263,500 | €26,350 | €59,288 | 71st | — |
| Mayo | €240,000 | €24,000 | €54,000 | 65th | — |
| Leitrim | €226,750 | €22,675 | €51,019 | 62nd | — |
| Roscommon | €224,250 | €22,425 | €50,456 | 62nd | — |
| Donegal | €218,500 | €21,850 | €49,163 | 60th | 5.4× |
Median of the 12 monthly medians for 2025 June to 2026 May. A 12-month window is used because single-month county medians are volatile where transaction counts are low (spread across the year reaches 47% in Leitrim, 44% in Monaghan). Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford are split by the CSO into city and county areas, which is why they appear more than once; a county earnings figure is only shown where the CSO publishes one for that area.
Work it out for your own income
Add a second applicant to see the joint figure, or switch to mover rates at 3.5×.
You could borrow up to
€356,000
at 4× combined income
A guide based on Central Bank limits. Lenders also test affordability against your outgoings, so your actual offer may be lower.
Central Bank rules: first-time buyers up to 4× income; movers 3.5×; 10% deposit. Limited exemptions apply.