How affordable is Ireland & N. Ireland really??

Question

My husband and I and our 4 children are considering moving to Ireland. He makes around $100,000 as a Construction Project Manager here in the USA. While both the North & South have a great demand his career type - the salary is around the same as here (maybe even less), yet taxes, housing and cars are so much higher. How is that that all my relatives who live in Ireland seem to be living well...nice houses, cars and wonderful vacations! Is everyone on the Island in debt? Someone please explain to me how a family of 6 can live well on $85,000 to $100,000 with the high cost of living...I truly don't understand it and want to live in Ireland but financially it just doesn't make sense to me.

Answer 1

I agree with some of the other answers although it does depend on where you want to live. Choosing between Dublin and Belfast for example on prices alone, Belfast wins hands down for property value.

Also, the mean salary ranges for Northern Ireland are lower than the rest of the UK and central Eire; my experience of living in Belfast is that it is cheap compared to other UK cities and Dublin, especially now that the Euro has become such a strong currency.

Answer 2

The taxes are higher (especially that VAT tax when you buy things), but I would think that European cars would be cheaper than in the US.  Also, housing is not as bad, but I guess that depends on where you live in the US (compared to suburban Philadelphia and NYC, Ireland is kind of cheap).

But the cost of clothing is more expensive (levi's are cheapest here for example), that I have heard from cousins who live there.  Part of that is because the dollar is so weak against both the Irish and English pounds, so it's advantageous for them to come here and buy things.  But it's a different way of life, so you won't be spending as much money on other things (like fast food, or whatever).

But I would do it in a minute, I would love to live in Ireland. $100,000 in Ireland should be plenty of money. I'm sure there are families over there living on less, just like there are families with kids who live on a combined income of $45,000 and live outside of Philadelphia.

Answer 3

The economy in Ireland is booming.  If you keep your US citizenship, you pay US taxes, not Ireland tax.  Northern Ireland is more expansive that Ireland due to it being part of the UK.