Cost of Living Comparator
Compare cost of living between two places.
Will your money go further?
Comparing two locations means scaling your expenses by the difference in their cost indices. If a city is 20% more expensive, a $60,000 lifestyle needs about $72,000 there to match.
Housing usually drives the difference, so if you rent or own, weight that category heavily; a salary that looks like a raise can be a pay cut once rent is factored in.
Indices are broad
Housing, taxes, and lifestyle vary within a city, so use this as a directional guide. The math runs entirely in your browser. The numbers you enter are never uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How is the equivalent salary calculated?
Current salary × new city index ÷ current city index. $85,000 in a city indexed at 110 is equivalent to about $104,318 in a city indexed at 135.
Where do the index values come from?
You enter them. Use any source that scores both cities on the same scale, such as C2ER, Numbeo, or BLS regional price data. Mixing indexes from different sources gives meaningless results.
Does it account for taxes?
No. State and local income tax can shift the real difference a lot, so compare after-tax pay if you are moving between high- and no-income-tax states.
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