Compare living costs by city. Analyze cost of living differences and purchasing power across major cities worldwide to make informed career decisions.
The cost-of-living calculator compares housing, food, transportation, and taxes between two cities and tells you what salary you would need in the target city to maintain the same standard of living. It uses public BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data plus regional housing indexes refreshed quarterly. The output is directional — your actual costs depend on lifestyle, family size, and neighborhood within the city. ±10% variance is normal. Use it for planning; pair with the salary calculator at /salary/calculator and a market check from levels.fyi (tech) or BLS (everything else) before negotiating.
Use cases
Evaluating a remote job offer at a different pay rate. Some companies pay one global rate; some pay locally. The calculator shows whether moving to a cheaper city (with location-adjusted pay) actually nets out as better or worse than staying in your current city.
Negotiating a relocation salary. When a company asks you to move, they should adjust salary for the new city's cost of living. The calculator gives you the number to ask for. Without it, candidates routinely accept salaries that are real-terms pay cuts disguised as moves.
Comparing offers across metros. A $200K offer in NYC and a $170K offer in Austin can be roughly equivalent in purchasing power. The calculator surfaces the difference; the headline number alone misleads.
How it works
Enter your current salary and city. Annual gross. Be specific about city, not region — Bay Area has wide internal variance; "San Francisco" and "Oakland" produce different numbers.
Enter the target city. Same precision. The calculator looks up housing, transportation, and tax data per city. Major metros have richer data than smaller cities.
Review the equivalent salary needed. The output shows what salary in the target city maintains your current purchasing power. Use as a floor for negotiation; aim above it for an actual upgrade.
Adjust for lifestyle and family size. The calculator uses average family expenditure data. Single people, families with kids, and empty nesters have different cost profiles. Adjust the number ±15% based on your situation.
Cross-check with one outside source. NerdWallet, BestPlaces.net, or local rental data for housing. Multiple-source agreement is more reliable than any single calculator output.
Examples
A candidate considering a move from Chicago to NYC. Current $150K in Chicago. Calculator shows $215K equivalent in NYC. Offer comes in at $190K — a real-terms pay cut. Candidate negotiates to $205K and accepts; without the calculator, would have accepted $190K thinking it was a raise.
A remote candidate moving from SF to Austin while keeping SF pay. Current $200K in SF. Austin equivalent: $135K. Candidate keeping $200K in Austin is effectively a 50% pay raise in real-terms purchasing power. The math behind the move is what makes one-rate remote so valuable.
Frequently asked questions
How does the cost-of-living calculator work?
You enter your current salary and city plus a target city. It compares housing, food, transportation, and taxes between the two and tells you what salary you would need in the target city to maintain the same standard of living.
Where does the cost-of-living data come from?
Public BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data, plus regional housing indexes refreshed quarterly. The output is directional (±10% is normal) — your actual costs depend on lifestyle, family size, and neighborhood within the city.
Should I use this to negotiate a relocation salary?
Use it as one data point. Pair it with the salary calculator at /salary/calculator (which uses role + level data) and a market check on levels.fyi for tech, BLS for everything else. Bring all three to the negotiation, not just this one.
Does it account for state and local income taxes?
Yes — federal, state, and major local income taxes are included. Property tax, sales tax, and vehicle / commute costs also factor in. It does not model HSA / FSA tax savings or retirement-account differences across employers.
Tips
The output is directional. ±10% variance is normal; cross-check with one outside source.
Family size and lifestyle adjust the number ±15%; the calculator uses averages.
Pair with /salary/calculator and one outside salary source for negotiation.
Tax differences between states are often the largest single line item — do not ignore them.
Best total-cost-of-living outcomes go to candidates earning major-metro salaries while living somewhere cheaper.