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Cost of Living Calculator

See the equivalent salary you would need in a different U.S. city.

Last data update: May 26, 2026 · Composite of major U.S. cost-of-living indices (ACCRA, BestPlaces, Numbeo aggregates), 2025 baseline

Where you live now.

Where you're thinking of moving.

$

Your gross pre-tax salary today.

Index 100 = US average. A city at 150 costs roughly 50% more than the national baseline.

Equivalent salary needed
Cost-of-living differential
Category breakdown

Indices are blended estimates from major COL providers (2025 data). Actual costs vary by neighborhood and lifestyle.

How to use this calculator

Pick your current city and a destination city from the dropdowns, then enter your current annual gross salary. The calculator instantly shows the equivalent salary you'd need in the destination to maintain the same standard of living, plus how much overall costs differ as a percentage.

The right-side card breaks the gap down by category — housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and utilities — so you can see what's actually driving the difference. Housing almost always dominates: a city that's 40% more expensive overall is often 80% more expensive on rent and roughly even on everything else.

Use this when you're weighing a relocation, comparing remote-work offers across cities, or deciding whether a "raise" tied to a move is actually a raise once you account for new rent and grocery prices.

Numbers in teal mean the destination is cheaper for that category; numbers in gold mean it's more expensive.

Calculation method

We use a cost-of-living index where 100 = US average. A city with an overall index of 150 costs roughly 50% more than the national baseline; a city at 90 costs about 10% less.

The equivalent-salary formula is straightforward:

equivalent salary = current salary × (destination index ÷ current index)

For example, moving from a city with index 187 to one with index 119 on a $75,000 salary: $75,000 × (119 ÷ 187) = $47,727. That's the salary you'd need in the cheaper city to live the same way.

The cost-of-living differential is the percentage change between the two indices:

diff % = (destination index − current index) ÷ current index × 100

Per-category breakdowns use the same formula with the housing, food, transportation, healthcare, or utilities index instead of the overall one. Housing typically drives most of the gap — it ranges from about 80 (Detroit) to 350 (San Francisco), while food and healthcare usually stay within 90–130 across nearly every US metro.

Index values are a composite average drawn from the major US cost-of-living index providers (ACCRA / Council for Community and Economic Research, Sperling's BestPlaces, and Numbeo crowdsourced data), reflecting 2025 baseline costs.

Examples

New York, NY → Austin, TX on $75,000

NYC overall index: 187 · Austin overall index: 119
Equivalent salary needed in Austin: $47,727
Cost-of-living differential: −36.4%

Housing drops the most (−48%), while groceries and healthcare are only modestly cheaper. Most of the win comes from rent.

San Francisco, CA → Seattle, WA on $180,000

SF overall index: 244 · Seattle overall index: 150
Equivalent salary needed in Seattle: $110,656
Cost-of-living differential: −38.5%

A common tech-worker move. Both have no state income tax in Washington (extra upside beyond the COL calc), but housing in Seattle is still roughly 43% cheaper than SF.

Chicago, IL → Atlanta, GA on $95,000

Chicago overall index: 107 · Atlanta overall index: 102
Equivalent salary needed in Atlanta: $90,561
Cost-of-living differential: −4.7%

A near-lateral move on paper. The small overall gap hides bigger swings underneath — Chicago transit costs more, Atlanta utilities a touch less. Test-drive both budgets before assuming the move is free.

Frequently Asked Questions

100 is the US national average across the categories we measure. A city at 150 means a typical basket of goods, rent, and services there costs about 50% more than the national average; a city at 85 costs about 15% less. The index lets you compare any two metros on a single scale without dragging around dollar values.
Food, transportation, healthcare, and utilities don't vary that much across the US — most metros land in the 90–130 range. Housing, on the other hand, swings from roughly 80 in Detroit to 350 in San Francisco. A pound of chicken costs almost the same in Houston and Manhattan; a one-bedroom apartment doesn't. That's why your move's overall index is largely a function of rent or mortgage cost.
No — the COL index measures consumer prices and rent, not taxes. Moving from California (high state income tax) to Texas or Washington (no state income tax) gives you a tax bump on top of the COL difference. Pair this tool with our take-home-pay calculator to see both effects together.
We use 2025 baseline data blended from ACCRA, BestPlaces, and Numbeo. Rents in particular move quickly, so treat the housing figure as a guide rather than a guarantee. Re-check actual listings on Zillow or Redfin in the neighborhoods you're targeting before committing to a move.
It depends on your lifestyle. The index assumes a typical middle-class consumption basket. If you own your home outright, the housing component matters far less to you. If you eat out constantly or own multiple cars, your real costs in a pricier city can run higher than the index suggests. Use the result as a sober first estimate, then refine it with your real budget.

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