Lowest-Paying Counties in Ireland
Ranked by median annual salary (ascending) · 2024
This page highlights the counties with the lowest median annual pay in Ireland based on CSO earnings data. Lower salaries do not automatically mean weaker living standards, but they are a useful starting point when you want to compare local earning power across the country.
Key Facts
Compare Next
This ranking is most useful when it leads into county detail pages or a direct comparison between the counties at the bottom of the table.
Interactive Ranking
Narrow the table to the strongest rows or scan the full ranking without leaving the page.
26 results currently shown.
| County | Median Salary | Next Step | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donegal | €36,967 | ||
| Monaghan | €37,867 | ||
| Longford | €38,857 | ||
| Kerry | €38,906 | ||
| Wexford | €39,409 | ||
| Carlow | €40,363 | ||
| Cavan | €40,596 | ||
| Mayo | €40,657 | ||
| Leitrim | €41,162 | ||
| Tipperary | €41,338 | ||
| Louth | €41,449 | ||
| Offaly | €41,464 | ||
| Roscommon | €42,150 | ||
| Waterford | €42,460 | ||
| Sligo | €42,468 | ||
| Westmeath | €43,072 | ||
| Kilkenny | €43,132 | ||
| Laois | €43,230 | ||
| Galway | €43,995 | ||
| Clare | €44,081 | ||
| Limerick | €44,498 | ||
| Meath | €46,272 | ||
| Cork | €46,416 | ||
| Wicklow | €46,527 | ||
| Kildare | €48,431 | ||
| Dublin | €49,224 |
Next Step
Need salary benchmarks with live job-market context?
Salaries.ie shows the public data. If you want current openings, employer demand, and a stronger sense of what roles are actually live in Ireland, use RoleUp alongside the salary pages.
Keep Exploring
Use the bottom of the county ranking as a benchmark, then open the underlying county pages or jump to the top of the table for contrast.
Open the lowest-paying county
Donegal anchors the bottom of the county table and is the clearest next click from this page.
Check the second-lowest county
Monaghan helps show whether the bottom of the county ranking is a one-off or a broader cluster.
See the highest-paying county
Jump to Dublin to measure the full spread between the lowest and highest county pay.
Run the bottom two counties head to head
Compare Donegal and Monaghan directly instead of reading them as isolated rows.
Flip to the highest-paying counties
Use the opposite ranking to see where the top of county pay sits.
How to read lower-paying county rankings
Counties at the lower end of the salary table often have a different mix of employers and industries than the national leaders. They may also have lower housing costs, different commuting patterns, or fewer very high-paid urban roles skewing the local median upward.
That is why the detailed county pages matter. They give you the broader context behind the ranking, rather than leaving you with one headline figure alone.