Galway is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht. It’s a vibrant place with an expanding ICT market and quite a few job opportunities for software engineers and developers.
IT salaries
The average IT salary in Galway is about €60,000 – 70,000 per year or €5,000 – 5,800 per month depending on the specialization and experience.
Here are average annual IT salaries in Galway (€, before taxes) according to Morgan McKinley:
- AI / machine learning specialist: 85,000 (60,000 – 110,000)
- Android developer: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Big Data developer: 80,000 (60,000 – 100,000)
- Business analyst: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- C# developer: 60,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Cloud architect: 85,000 (70,000 – 100,000)
- Data analyst: 55,000 (40,000 – 70,000)
- Data scientist: 70,000 (55,000 – 85,000)
- DevOps engineer: 80,000 (60,000 – 100,000)
- Full-stack developer: 60,000 (50,000 – 75,000)
- iOS developer: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- IT manager: 80,000 (65,000 – 100,000)
- Java developer: 60,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- JavaScript developer: 55,000 (40,000 – 70,000)
- .NET developer: 60,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Network engineer: 65,000 (50,000 – 80,000)
- PHP developer: 55,000 (40,000 – 65,000)
- Product manager: 75,000 (65,000 – 90,000)
- Product owner: 65,000 (55,000 – 75,000)
- Python developer: 60,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- QA engineer: 60,000 (45,000 – 75,000)
- React developer: 60,000 (45,000 – 75,000)
- Ruby on Rails developer: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Salesforce developer: 75,000 (60,000 – 90,000)
- Scrum master: 70,000 (60,000 – 80,000)
- Security engineer: 65,000 (50,000 – 75,000)
- SQL developer: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Systems analyst: 55,000 (45,000 – 70,000)
- Technical writer: 50,000 (35,000 – 60,000)
- UX/UI designer: 60,000 (40,000 – 75,000)
Economy
Galway is an important economic center of the province of Connacht and western Ireland.
The unemployment rate in Galway is 4.0% — lower compared to 5.4% across the nation (April 2020).
Important economic sectors in Galway include:
- Chemicals
- Electronics
- ICT (information and communications technology)
- Manufacturing
- Medical equipment
- Professional services
- Retail
- Tourism
Galway has over 100 technology companies. The largest ones present in the city and its surroundings include:
- Boston Scientific
- BriteBiz
- Cisco
- EA Games
- Medtronic
- SAP Ireland
Cost of living
The average monthly expenses in Galway stand at about €815 for a single person or €2,920 for a four-person family (without rent).
Here are examples of the average prices in Galway (€):
- Meal at McDonald’s: 8–9
- Meal at another inexpensive restaurant: 10–18
- Average food basket (milk, bread, eggs, cheese, chicken, apples, potatoes, water, beer): 30
- Monthly fee at a fitness club: 30–80
- Monthly pass: 60–80
- Monthly rent (1 bedroom): 600 – 1,250
- Monthly rent (3 bedrooms): 1,200 – 2,000
- Property prices per square meter: 2,400 – 4,500
- Utilities: 90–230 per month
Travel
The airports closest to Galway are Shannon Airport (90 km) and Ireland West Airport Knock (86 km). They have flights around Ireland and to the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and North America (from Shannon Airport).
Entertainment
Galway is known as Ireland's Cultural Heart and is renowned for its vibrant lifestyle and for hosting numerous events, celebrations, and festivals such as The Galway Arts Festival and the Tulca Festival of Visual Arts. The city was named the European Region of Gastronomy in 2018 and the European Capital of Culture in 2020.
Galway’s places of interest include medieval castles, the Claddagh — the oldest part of Galway, churches, museums, old cemeteries, and the Long Walk with multicolored houses.