Cost of living, explained the way it actually affects your paycheck
A salary number means nothing on its own. $80,000 in Houston and $80,000 in San Francisco are two completely different lives — different rent, different grocery bills, different taxes, different amount left over at the end of the month. Cost of Living Today turns that abstract gap into one concrete figure: the salary you would need in the second city to live exactly as well as you do in the first.
How the comparison works
Every city carries an index for rent, groceries, transport, utilities, and dining, all rebased so the US national average equals 100. We blend those into one overall index, with rent weighted most heavily because housing dominates almost everyone’s budget. Your equivalent salary is simply your current pay scaled by the ratio between the two cities’ indices. If the destination scores 130 versus 100 at home, you need about 30% more to break even.
Why taxes change the answer
Two job offers with the same gross salary can leave you with very different take-home pay. States like Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington, and Tennessee have no state income tax, while California, New York, and Oregon take a meaningful bite. That’s why a smaller salary in Austin can beat a bigger one in Los Angeles once federal brackets, FICA, and state tax are all accounted for. The tool estimates net pay on both sides so you compare what you actually keep, not the sticker number.
The five-year and relocation lens
A relocation is rarely about a single year. A 20% raise that comes with a 35% jump in rent is a pay cut in disguise. Before you accept an offer or sign a lease in a new city, run the equivalent-salary number, then look at the category breakdown to see where the money goes. Sometimes the headline cost is high but the thing that matters to you — say, transport or dining — is actually cheaper.
Comparing across borders
If one side of your comparison is a city in Latin America, the tool also shows the equivalent in local currency. That’s the missing piece for anyone weighing a move home, supporting family abroad, or deciding whether a remote-work salary stretches further somewhere else. Currency rates move, so treat cross-border numbers as a well-informed estimate rather than a quote.