Cost of Living Comparison
Compare cost of living between cities and find the equivalent salary.
About Cost of Living Comparison
The index ratio gives the salary needed to maintain the same standard of living. Rent is usually the largest single difference between cities, which is why it is worth checking separately from the composite index. Indices weight a standard basket that may not match your spending, so a household spending heavily on rent will experience a bigger change than the index suggests.
Formula
Cost of Living Comparison
Equivalent salary = current salary × (target index ÷ current index)
- cost index
- Relative cost of a standard basket, usually with a base city at 100
- purchasing power
- What the same salary buys, which falls as the index rises
Worked example
With the default values below, Cost of Living Comparison returns Equivalent Salary Needed of $72,600.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Current annual salaryminimum 0
- 55,000
- Current city cost indexminimum 1
- 100
- Target city cost indexminimum 1
- 132
- Current monthly rentminimum 0
- 1,200
- Target city monthly rentminimum 0
- 1,850
Results
- Equivalent Salary Needed
- $72,600.00
- Additional Salary Required
- $17,600.00
- Cost of Living Difference
- 32.00%
- Annual Rent Difference
- $7,800.00
- Change in Purchasing Power at the Same Salary
- -24.24%
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Cost of Living Comparison
- 3Equivalent Salary Needed= 72,600.00
- 4Additional Salary Required= 17,600.00
- 5Cost of Living Difference= 32.00
- 6Annual Rent Difference= 7,800.00
- 7Change in Purchasing Power at the Same Salary= -24.24
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation or tax into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Cost of Living Comparison calculated?
Equivalent salary = current salary × (target index ÷ current index) The index ratio gives the salary needed to maintain the same standard of living. Rent is usually the largest single difference between cities, which is why it is worth checking separately from the composite index.
Why does Cost of Living Comparison matter?
Indices weight a standard basket that may not match your spending, so a household spending heavily on rent will experience a bigger change than the index suggests.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Current annual salary, Current city cost index, Target city cost index, Current monthly rent, Target city monthly rent. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.