Dublin vs Oslo for couples
Dublin, in Ireland, and Oslo, in Norway, are about 1,265 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Dublin leads on cost and getting by in English; Oslo on safety and healthcare.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Dublin is cheaper: we estimate about €4,127 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,602 in Oslo. That is €475 a month, or 10%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Ireland and Norway both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Dublin is 4°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 7°C in Oslo. Rainfall is similar: about 761 mm a year in Dublin and 759 mm in Oslo.
Safety
Oslo is the safer pick: Norway scores 75 out of 100 on safety, 15 points above Ireland (60).
Healthcare
Oslo has the stronger healthcare: Norway scores 75 out of 100 on healthcare, 5 points above Ireland (70).
Internet
Close: about 130 Mbps median fixed download in Dublin and about 130 Mbps in Oslo.
Language
Main languages: English, Irish in Dublin; Norwegian, English in Oslo. English goes further in Dublin (English everywhere) than in Oslo (good English).
Residency and visas
Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $4,850 a month in Ireland and $3,062 in Norway. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 82 of 198 passports can enter Ireland visa-free and 93 can enter Norway.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts cost (€4,127 against €4,602 a month) and getting by in English (English everywhere against good English) first, Dublin comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (75 against 60 out of 100) and healthcare (75 against 70 out of 100), Oslo does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Dublin (11°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Oslo (7°C).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Dublin, Oslo and 913 other cities for both of you at once.