Cost of Living Calculator
Compare the cost of living between states and find your equivalent salary.
Where you are and where you're moving
Equivalent salary to keep the same purchasing power
$91,262
The destination is 14.1% more expensive overall
Current state index
97.1
100 = national average
Destination state index
110.7
100 = national average
Salary difference
$11,262
More needed
Estimate calculated from the numbers you entered. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice — always consult a qualified professional before making significant financial decisions.
How the Cost of Living Calculator works
This tool uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis's official Regional Price Parity index by state to estimate the salary you'd need in a new state to maintain the same purchasing power.
Most cost-of-living comparisons online are built from self-reported user data. This one uses the federal government's own price index, which is the same dataset the BEA uses to publish real personal income by state.
The formula
Equivalent salary = current salary × (destination RPP ÷ current RPP)RPP is indexed so that 100 equals the national average price level. Because the formula is a ratio between two states, what matters is the gap between them, not either state's distance from 100 — moving between two expensive states can be close to neutral.
Worked example
Someone earning $90,000 in Texas (RPP 97.1) considering a move to California (RPP 110.7): $90,000 × (110.7 ÷ 97.1) ≈ $102,670. California is about 14.1% more expensive overall, so an offer below roughly $102,700 would leave them with less purchasing power than they have now, even though the headline number is bigger.
Then layer on what the index doesn't cover. Texas has no state income tax and California's is progressive and among the highest in the country, so the real break-even offer is meaningfully above $102,700. Run the destination state through the Paycheck Calculator to see the take-home difference before treating the equivalent salary as your target.
Common mistakes
- Comparing a big city in one state to a rural area in another using state averages — the within-state spread is often larger than the between-state gap.
- Ignoring state income tax, which the price index does not measure at all.
- Assuming a raise that beats the index makes you better off, without checking housing costs in the specific neighborhood you'd live in.
- Forgetting one-time moving costs and the months it can take to sell or exit a lease.
- Overlooking non-price factors that carry real financial weight: commute length, childcare availability, and health insurance networks.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Regional Price Parity index?
A Regional Price Parity (RPP) is an official Bureau of Economic Analysis measure of how expensive a state is relative to the national average (100). A state at 110 is roughly 10% more expensive to live in than the national average across all goods and services; a state at 90 is about 10% cheaper.
Why is this a state-level comparison, not a city-level one?
The BEA's most granular publicly reproducible dataset for this kind of comparison is state-level. Cost of living varies significantly within a state too — Austin and rural West Texas are very different — so treat this as a starting benchmark, not a precise city-to-city figure.
What does "equivalent salary" mean here?
It's the salary in your destination state that would buy the same overall basket of goods and services as your current salary does today — not a guarantee of what job offers will actually pay, which depends on local labor markets, not just prices.
Does this account for state income tax?
No, and that gap can be large enough to reverse the answer. The Regional Price Parity index measures prices of goods and services, not taxes. Moving from a state with no income tax to one with a high rate can cost you several percent of gross pay on top of any price difference — and moving the other way can offset a higher cost of living entirely. Check both numbers before deciding.
Why is housing the biggest driver of the difference?
Because housing is both the largest line in most household budgets and the component that varies most between states. Groceries, gas, and consumer goods differ modestly across the country; rent and home prices differ enormously. That's why two states can have similar prices for everything except shelter and still land far apart on the overall index.
Should I negotiate my salary using this number?
It's a reasonable opening reference, but employers generally pay based on local labor markets and the value of the role, not on preserving your previous purchasing power. Use the equivalent salary to judge whether an offer actually leaves you better off, rather than presenting it as an entitlement.
How current is the underlying data?
The index reflects 2024 Regional Price Parities, the most recent year the Bureau of Economic Analysis has published. Relative price levels between states move slowly, so the comparison stays useful, but fast-moving local housing markets can shift ahead of the data.
What actually moves this number
Specific levers, and roughly what each one is worth. Not “save more” — the things that change the figure above by an amount you can measure.
Compare housing separately from everything else
Housing drives most of the difference between two US metros, and a single index number averages it away. Price the actual rent or mortgage for the neighborhood you would live in before trusting a percentage.
Add the state and local tax difference
Moving between a no-income-tax state and one with a high rate is worth several percent of gross pay, and local income taxes exist in several states on top. It is frequently larger than the grocery and utility differences combined.
Do not assume salaries scale with the index
A move to a cheaper metro often comes with a disproportionately lower salary. Get a real offer or a market range for your role there before treating the cost saving as income.
Price the one-time cost of moving
Movers, deposits, a vehicle registration, possibly two rents for a month. It commonly runs into five figures and is absent from every cost-of-living comparison, including this one.
What this calculator does not cover
Every calculator simplifies, and the useful thing is knowing exactly where. These are the specific gaps between this estimate and your real situation:
- It uses regional price parity, a broad index of overall price levels. Your personal difference depends on your specific spending, and housing dominates the variation.
- State and local income tax differences are a large part of a real relocation comparison and are only approximated here.
- Salaries do not scale with cost of living automatically. A move to a cheaper area often comes with lower pay, sometimes disproportionately.
- It cannot price the things that actually decide a move: commute, schools, family, climate, and career opportunity.
For anything that turns on an exact figure, use the primary sources below or a qualified professional. How these limits are decided and disclosed is described in the editorial standards.