Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Ireland Cost of Living Summary
California is 25.2% more expensive than Ireland overall.
California vs. Ireland Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Ireland, you would:
pay 9.4% more for restaurants
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.96
€17.82
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.14
€10.84
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
€2.39
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
€1.78
|
$2.26
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 40.0% more for groceries
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.02
€1.80
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.34
€4.77
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.82
€5.20
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.21
€3.76
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.11
€4.56
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.36
€1.22
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.03
€0.92
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.39
€1.24
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.90
€1.70
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
€0.82
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.70
€0.62
|
$1.39
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 22.3% less for transportation
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$7.65
€6.83
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$110.44
€98.58
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$38,078.30
€33,989.38
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.71
€15.81
|
$20.97
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 47.4% more for housing
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$49.31
€44.02
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,521.74
€1,358.33
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,279.42
€1,142.04
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$177.91
€158.81
|
$172.98
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 2.6 times more for childcare
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,010.73
€902.19
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,428.18
€6,630.53
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 7.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.56
€5.86
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.23
€3.78
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$19.61
€17.50
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$58.26
€52.00
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.78
€12.30
|
$15.07
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.3% less for clothing
|
Ireland
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$88.92
€79.37
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.00
€36.60
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$96.60
€86.22
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$104.62
€93.39
|
$130.37
|
|
Ireland vs. California - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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See the
cost of living in Ireland vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Ireland and United States.
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