Cost of Living Calculator

This calculator converts a salary between two places using cost of living index numbers. Enter what you earn now, the index for your current city and the index for the city you are considering, and it shows the equivalent salary, the annual and monthly difference, and the percentage change in living costs.

It is useful when weighing a job offer in another city, negotiating a relocation package, or checking whether a remote-work pay adjustment is fair. Both index numbers must come from the same source and year, because each publisher uses its own basket and baseline, usually with 100 as the national average.

Indexes measure prices, not taxes, so the result is a pre-tax comparison. A move between states with and without income tax can shift take-home pay by several percent on top; run both salaries through the paycheck calculator to compare net pay. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the gap, so check local rents with the rent affordability calculator as well.

This is a simple proportional price adjustment, the same method used to compare incomes with the US Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (RPPs), which set the national price level at 100 for each state and metro area. Commercial indexes such as the C2ER Cost of Living Index also use 100 as the average of participating areas.

The method assumes you would buy the same mix of goods in both places. In practice people adapt (a smaller home, less driving), so the result is an upper bound for a like-for-like lifestyle rather than a hard requirement.

Use one source for both cities; mixing sources gives meaningless ratios.

• Income and sales taxes: a state with no income tax can offset a higher price index, and the reverse is also true.
• Your own spending mix: if you already own a home or rent from family, a housing-heavy index overstates your costs.
• Childcare, tuition and commuting: these vary hugely within a metro area and are only partly reflected in broad indexes.
• Wages in the new market: pay often runs higher in expensive areas, so compare the equivalent salary with local market rates, not just your current pay.

For a fuller picture, build a monthly budget for each city with the budget calculator and compare what is left over.

Treat the equivalent salary as the minimum to maintain your lifestyle, then add for career progression, a higher-cost commute or one-off moving costs. If the offer falls short, the monthly gap figure is a concrete number to bring to the discussion. When the move lowers your costs, an employer may propose a location-based pay cut; the same calculation shows whether the reduction is proportionate.