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Ireland in numbers

The benchmarks, with their sources showing

Every figure the Mirror Test compares you with. Fewer numbers than a typical dashboard — because each one here can be traced to the body that published it.

Key figures

Official data

€44,816

Median annual earnings, all employees

+3.7% on 2023

Source: CSO — Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2024 · 2024

Official data

€299.30/wk

State Pension (Contributory), full personal rate

About €15,564 a year

Source: gov.ie — State Pension (Contributory), maximum personal rate · 2026

Official data

3.5%

Auto-enrolment, total contribution

1.5% you · 1.5% employer · 0.5% State

Source: gov.ie — Automatic Enrolment (My Future Fund) contribution rates · 2026

CSO medians are per employment and include part-time jobs, so the typical full-time salary is higher than the all-employee median. Read them as the middle of everyone with a payslip.

Rent and prices by county

RTB average monthly rent for new tenancies (2025), and the median Property Price Register sale over the last 12 months. Where the CSO publishes a county earnings median, rent is shown as a share of it.

  • CarlowRent €1,316Price €285,000
  • CavanRent €1,095Price €245,000
  • ClareRent €1,170Price €290,000
  • CorkRent €1,542Price €345,000Rent is 40% of the county’s median gross pay
  • DonegalRent €977Price €196,250Rent is 32% of the county’s median gross pay
  • DublinRent €2,159Price €490,000Rent is 53% of the county’s median gross pay
  • GalwayRent €1,637Price €351,000
  • KerryRent €1,182Price €288,000
  • KildareRent €1,701Price €425,000Rent is 42% of the county’s median gross pay
  • KilkennyRent €1,207Price €300,000
  • LaoisRent €1,235Price €280,000
  • LeitrimRent €992Price €210,000
  • LimerickRent €1,619Price €291,000
  • LongfordRent €1,120Price €199,000Rent is 35% of the county’s median gross pay
  • LouthRent €1,433Price €295,000
  • MayoRent €1,117Price €226,250
  • MeathRent €1,542Price €385,000Rent is 40% of the county’s median gross pay
  • MonaghanRent €1,028Price €225,000Rent is 33% of the county’s median gross pay
  • OffalyRent €1,198Price €271,500
  • RoscommonRent €1,092Price €215,000
  • SligoRent €1,156Price €233,100
  • TipperaryRent €1,078Price €250,000
  • WaterfordRent €1,247Price €263,250
  • WestmeathRent €1,257Price €300,000
  • WexfordRent €1,179Price €285,000
  • WicklowRent €1,730Price €455,000Rent is 45% of the county’s median gross pay

Source: RTB average monthly rent (new tenancies), published by the CSO as table RIA02 · 2025

Source: Residential Property Price Register — median sale price, last 12 months · rolling 12 months

Source: CSO — Distribution of Earnings by Gender and County 2024 · 2024

Median earnings by sector

Where the CSO publishes only a weekly median we multiply by 52 and label it — that understates a full-time salary in sectors with a lot of part-time work.

  • Tech, telecoms & media€80,147Official data
  • Finance, insurance & property€59,023Official data
  • Public administration & defence€56,745Official data
  • Manufacturing, pharma & utilities€45,337Derived calculation
  • Construction & trades€40,050Derived calculation
  • Transport & logistics€39,153Derived calculation
  • Retail & wholesale€28,619Derived calculation
  • Arts, leisure & personal services€28,497Official data
  • Hospitality & food€26,000Official data

Source: CSO — Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2024 · 2024

What is not on this page, and why

An earlier version showed a “National Mood Index”, “what Ireland’s talking about” mention counts, and national averages for savings, debt and pension coverage. None of them had a source we could defend — there was no survey behind the mood score and no measurement behind the counts — so they are gone. If a figure cannot be traced, BlackMirror does not show it.

Now see where you sit against them.

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