Cost of living.
With housing in its own lane.
A bigger salary is not always a bigger life. Compare the monthly money left in two cities, states or countries—with a separate view for renting, buying and everything outside housing.
Compare two placesCompare the life, not just the salary.
Example budgets to start—not city averages. Replace them with local quotes and your expected take-home pay.
Where you live now
Use your all-in effective deduction rate, including payroll taxes and benefits. Keep anything deducted here out of the spending fields below.
Everyday spending, excluding housing
Match the household and lifestyle on both sides. Include parking, healthcare, debt repayments and childcare where relevant. Don’t count costs already included in rent or payroll deductions twice.
Where you could move
Use your all-in effective deduction rate, including payroll taxes and benefits. Keep anything deducted here out of the spending fields below.
Everyday spending, excluding housing
Match the household and lifestyle on both sides. Include parking, healthcare, debt repayments and childcare where relevant. Don’t count costs already included in rent or payroll deductions twice.
Salary to keep your monthly breathing room
$108,750gross household income per year in New cityPreserves $2,125 of monthly unallocated cash from Current city, after housing and everyday spending. It does not preserve a savings percentage or forecast wealth.
Your entered offer is $3,750 per year below that amount.
If you take housing out
$98,750equivalent gross salary per yearRemoves housing payments from both budgets. Useful for isolating everything else—not a budget you can live on unless housing is covered separately.
- Housing cost difference / month
- +$600
- Everything else / month
- +$300
The monthly money trail
Amounts in each location’s currency. On a small screen, scroll the table sideways to compare both.
| Monthly cash flow | Current city · USD | New city · USD |
|---|---|---|
| Take-home pay | $5,625 | $6,300 |
| Housing cash payments | $1,800 | $2,400 |
| Food & groceries | $500 | $600 |
| Transport & commuting | $350 | $350 |
| Utilities, phone & internet | $200 | $250 |
| Health, childcare & education | $250 | $300 |
| Other spending & debt payments | $400 | $500 |
| Total monthly outlay | $3,500 | $4,400 |
| Cash left after those outlays | $2,125 | $1,900 |
After converting to USD, the destination offer leaves $225 less per month. These are budgeting estimates at your entered effective deduction rates; changing salary can change the actual tax rate.
One answer you can check by hand.
This is an illustrative household, not a claim about any city. At a $90,000 salary and 25% deductions, take-home pay is $5,625 a month. Rent of $1,800 plus $1,700 in other spending leaves $2,125.
In the destination, $2,400 rent plus $2,000 in other spending requires $6,525 take-home to preserve that $2,125. At 28% deductions, the equivalent gross salary is $108,750. Excluding housing from both budgets gives $98,750.
The formula
Current monthly room = take-home − housing − other spending.
Required destination take-home = destination spending + current monthly room converted to destination currency.
Equivalent gross salary = required take-home × 12 ÷ (1 − destination effective deduction rate).
Results round for display only. The model uses unrounded numbers. Negative required take-home is floored at zero; a deficit warning remains visible.
Use a household budget, not an average lifestyle.
A regional index is a starting point—not a rent quote, tax calculation or promise about your purchasing power. Neighborhood, household size, childcare, commuting and healthcare can change the answer substantially.
Enter comparable local quotes. A household choosing to rent in both places can reach a different conclusion from one buying in both. This tool shows the difference without blending mortgage principal into a general price index.
Where to check your assumptions
- BEA regional price parities for U.S. state and metro price-level benchmarks, including a separate housing-rent category. We do not import those averages as your budget.
- BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys for household spending categories and context—not a personalized forecast.
- CFPB mortgage payment guidance for costs beyond principal and interest. Use actual lender, insurer and tax quotes.
Method and source links checked October 5, 2026. Enter salaries after deciding whether you are comparing individual or combined household income. For countries with different tax systems, use a locally applicable take-home estimate; this is not a tax or immigration-advice tool.
Cost of living calculator FAQ
How much salary do I need in another city?
Estimate take-home pay, housing payments and non-housing spending in both locations. This calculator finds the destination gross salary that preserves the same monthly amount of unallocated cash, using your entered effective deduction rate and exchange rate.
Can I compare cost of living without housing?
Yes. The second result removes rent or ownership payments from both budgets while keeping taxes and everyday spending. It isolates the non-housing difference; it is not an estimate of total living costs.
Can I compare renting in one city with buying in another?
Yes. Each location has its own housing plan. The buying budget includes a fixed-rate mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance and HOA or mortgage insurance. Principal repayment and upfront purchase cash are shown separately from consumption.
Does this calculator automatically load city averages or tax tables?
No. The starting figures are example budgets, not local averages. Enter current housing quotes, household spending and an effective deduction rate from your pay statement or a reliable tax estimate. No city database, live exchange rate, or automatic tax calculation is used.
How do I compare countries with different currencies?
Enter each location’s three-letter currency code and the number of current-location currency units equal to one destination unit. Budgets stay in local currencies; comparison differences convert to the current currency. No purchasing-power-parity adjustment is applied on top of your local prices.