How Much A First-Time Buyer Needs To Earn In Every County To Afford A Home

Three Irish counties now require a six-figure salary to buy a typical first-time buyer home, according to new analysis from Chill. Dublin remains the least affordable, with a single buyer needing to earn €108,000, but Wicklow (€101,250) and Kildare (€100,238) have now joined it above the €100,000 mark. A year ago, Dublin was the only county above that threshold.

The wider picture is just as stark. A first-time buyer earning the national median salary of €44,816 would not earn enough to borrow what they need for a typical first home in any county in Ireland. Even in Longford, the most affordable county in the analysis, a single buyer would need €48,375, above the national median wage.

For this analysis, we compared CSO data on median first-time buyer prices in each county with median incomes, then applied Central Bank mortgage limits to work out the income a single buyer would need to borrow enough to buy. To close the gap, many buyers save a larger deposit, buy with another person, or turn to State-backed supports.

Dublin: The Biggest Income Hurdle

The gap is most severe in Dublin. The median price for a first-time buyer home now stands at €480,000. Under Central Bank rules, which cap borrowing at 90% of a property's value and four times a buyer's gross income, a single applicant would need to earn €108,000 to qualify for a mortgage on that home.

That is more than double Dublin's median income of €49,224. Put another way, a single Dublin worker on the county's median income is almost €59,000 short of the salary required.

Every County, Ranked

The full picture, county by county. Tap any column heading to sort.

These figures show the gross salary a single first-time buyer would need to qualify for a mortgage covering 90% of the county's median price under the Central Bank's four-times-income limit. Full methodology is at the end.

A Clear Regional Divide

The highest income requirements are concentrated in Leinster and Munster. Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Cork now all require salaries above €90,000, and the first three of those cross into six figures.

Connacht and Ulster account for most of the more affordable areas, alongside Longford. In counties such as Longford, Leitrim and Mayo, a salary below €58,000 could be enough to borrow the amount needed. Even so, the lowest requirement of all, Longford at €48,375, still sits above the national median wage.

5 Least Affordable Counties For First-Time Buyers

Ranked by income shortfall. The shortfall, the gap between the local median income and the salary a single buyer would need, is widest in these five counties.

1. Dublin

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €480,000
Median Dublin income: €49,224
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €108,000
Income shortfall: €58,776

2. Wicklow

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €450,000
Median Wicklow income: €46,527
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €101,250
Income shortfall: €54,723

3. Kildare

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €445,500
Median Kildare income: €48,431
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €100,238
Income shortfall: €51,807

4. Meath

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €429,999
Median Meath income: €46,272
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €96,750
Income shortfall: €50,478

5. Louth

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €390,000
Median Louth income: €41,449
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €87,750
Income shortfall: €46,301

5 Most Affordable Counties For First-Time Buyers

Ranked by income shortfall. The shortfall, the gap between the local median income and the salary a single buyer would need, is smallest in these five counties.

1. Longford

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €215,000
Median Longford income: €38,857
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €48,375
Income shortfall: €9,518

2. Leitrim

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €245,000
Median Leitrim income: €41,162
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €55,125
Income shortfall: €13,963

3. Mayo

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €255,000
Median Mayo income: €40,657
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €57,375
Income shortfall: €16,718

4. Donegal

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €254,750
Median Donegal income: €36,967
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €57,319
Income shortfall: €20,352

5. Roscommon

Median price for first-time buyer home in June 2026: €280,000
Median Roscommon income: €42,150
Income required to borrow 90% of property value: €63,000
Income shortfall: €20,850

The Six-Figure Salary Threshold Is Spreading

Last year, Dublin was the only county where a single buyer needed a six-figure salary to buy a typical first home. This year Wicklow and Kildare have joined it, while Meath has moved to within €3,250 of the €100,000 mark.

• Dublin€108,000 needed, up 4.3% from €103,500.
• Wicklow€101,250 needed, now above the €100,000 mark, up from €99,003.
• Kildare€100,238 needed, now above the €100,000 mark, up from €95,625.
• Meath€96,750 needed, up 13.2% from €85,500, the biggest increase of any county.
• National median salary€44,816, up 3.7% from €43,221, but still below the income required in every county.

With Irish house prices continuing to increase faster than wages, first-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to find a property they can afford, not just in Dublin or major urban centres but right across the country.

The Chill report emphasises the nationwide nature of the problem would-be homebuyers face. Even allowing for ongoing wage growth, in no county is the typical first-time buyer property accessible at present to the median wage-earner, unless they are in a position to get additional financial support from the State and/or their family.

With would-be buyers in Dublin and surrounding counties now needing around twice the typical wage in those areas and approaching that in Cork and Galway, this ‘purchase gap’ is growing and spreading in a worrisome manner. Austin Hughes, Economist

What Can First-Time Buyers Do?

Most first-time buyers are capped at borrowing four times their income, but many can stretch further. Through a lender exemption, a first-time buyer may be able to borrow up to around 4.5 times their income, subject to a full affordability assessment. Through the Local Authority Home Loan, an eligible buyer may be able to borrow up to around 4.6 times their income directly from their council. The State also runs Help to Buy (a tax refund of up to €30,000 towards your deposit), the First Home Scheme (shared equity on a home you buy on the private market) and the Starter Home Purchase Scheme (shared equity on a discounted home from your local authority), all grouped under Starter Home Supports.

Our Final Thought

The headline this year is how far the affordability problem has spread beyond Dublin. But the most telling figure may be the smallest one: even Longford, the most affordable county in the analysis, requires a salary above the national median wage to secure a typical first-time buyer mortgage.

Sources & Methodology

Median home prices for first-time buyer homes are from the CSO's Residential Property Price Index for the 12 months to June 2026, while median incomes are from the CSO's Distribution of Earnings by Gender and County 2024. The salary shown for each county is the gross income a single first-time buyer would need for the Central Bank's standard limits (90% of a property's value and a loan of four times income) to reach the county's median price. It is a measure of borrowing capacity against median prices and does not account for deposits already saved, existing debts or other outgoings.