Galway ranked 6th most expensive European city for rent

Nearly 80% of a worker’s salary is being swallowed up by rent for a one-bed flat in the city centre.

The average rent for a Galway city centre apartment was €2,100 last month, according to financial media site TradingPedia – 77.8% of the average salary of €2,701 after taxes.

This leaves the average tenant in a central one-bed flat with just €601, or 22.2%, of their salary left after rent, or €387 less disposable income when compared with April 2025.

The City of the Tribes was the least affordable city in Ireland for renters and was calculated as being proportionally dearer than 124 other European cities surveyed, including Rome (23rd), London (24th), Berlin (73rd) and Paris (81st).

Dublin and Cork faced severe affordability pressure, with rents draining a significant portion of average local salaries, leaving residents with relatively little disposable income after housing costs.

In the capital, ranked 25th, the average one-bed city-centre tenant spends 61.7% of their monthly net salary on housing, with rents climbing to €2,142 a month.

Of the €3,470 Dublin residents typically earn after taxes, only €1,328 is left after paying rent for this type of apartment.

Cork, in 66th place, fared far better, as rents are €1,682 a month, meaning less than 45% of an average local salary disappears on rent before other bills are paid.

The average salary as of 2026 is €3,756 a month, higher than in Dublin.

There is some distortion in the data however, as those able to afford city centre flats are paid significantly more than the city’s average salary.

Lisbon – which topped the list with rent for a one-bed city centre flat at 99% of its average salary (€1,331), leaving €15 aside after rent – is suffering a housing crisis partly caused by wealthy remote workers with high foreign wages.

* This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.