How this cost of living calculator works
Pick your home place and a place to compare against — any of the 50 states, DC, or 387 metro areas — enter your current salary, and the calculator shows the salary you'd need in the second place to buy the same real basket of goods and services. Switch to "Rent only" to isolate just the housing component, or compare against the U.S. national average instead of a specific place.
Cheaper isn't automatically better
A lower cost of living usually comes with lower typical pay too — this calculator only adjusts for regional PRICE differences, not for what a given job or industry actually pays in each place. Treat the result as one input among several for a real relocation or job-offer decision, not a verdict on which place is "better."
What the calculator assumes
Figures are BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 vintage (the most recent published; next update December 2026) — an estimate of relative price levels, not a live or individualized cost quote. This comparison is pre-tax: state and local income, sales, and property tax differences are real but separate factors this figure does not include. This is an estimate to help you plan, not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
How is cost of living calculated here?
This calculator uses BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) Regional Price Parities — an index that measures how price levels for the same mix of goods and services differ across US states and metro areas, expressed as a percentage of the national average (100). It's the same government data behind BEA's own real personal income figures, not a third-party estimate.
What salary do I need to maintain my lifestyle if I move?
Enter your current salary and both places — the calculator multiplies your salary by the ratio of the two places' price indices, giving you the salary in the new place that buys the same real purchasing power. It's a starting point for negotiating a relocation offer, not a guarantee.
Is this the same as a salary comparison by job title?
No — this is a pure cost-of-living adjustment based on regional prices, not a comparison of what a specific job or industry pays in each location. Combine this figure with actual salary research for your role in both places.
What's the difference between 'overall cost' and 'rent only'?
"Overall cost" is BEA's all-items index — a weighted basket covering housing, goods, utilities, and other services. "Rent only" isolates just the housing/rents component, which is typically the single biggest driver of cost-of-living differences between places. Switching between them can change the verdict, since rents vary far more than the overall basket.
Does this account for state income tax?
No — this is a pre-tax cost-of-living comparison based on 2024 BEA regional price data. State and local income tax differences are a separate, real factor in a relocation decision and are not included in this figure.
Worked examples
California to Mississippi
A well-separated state pair, on the all-items basis.
You'd need about $78,534 in Mississippi to match a $100,000 lifestyle in California — Mississippi runs cheaper overall.
Flip the direction
The same two states, compared from the other side.
You'd need about $127,333 in California to match a $100,000 lifestyle in Mississippi — flipping the two places changes the numbers, but never the underlying relationship: Mississippi and California are the same distance apart in cost either way.
What affects the result
Which basis you compare on
The all-items basis and the rents-only basis can tell different stories for the same two places — a place can rank cheaper overall but have pricier rent, or the reverse. Check both if housing cost matters to your decision specifically.
Salary size scales the dollar gap, not the percentage
The percentage cost difference between two places stays the same regardless of your salary — but the DOLLAR gap in the equivalent-salary figure grows with a larger salary. A 10% difference is a bigger number at $200,000 than at $50,000.
Common mistakes to avoid
- ✗Comparing a nominal salary offer directly between two places without adjusting for cost of living first.
- ✗Confusing the rents-only basis with a homeowner's housing cost — it is a renters' index (see the model assumptions).
Practical takeaways
- ✓Use the equivalent-salary figure as a starting point for negotiating a relocation offer, not a final answer.
- ✓Check the rents-only basis separately if housing cost specifically (not overall cost of living) is your main concern.
Key terms
- Regional Price Parity (RPP)
- A BEA index measuring how price levels for the same mix of goods, services, and rent differ across US states and metro areas, expressed as a percentage of the national average (100). An RPP of 110 means prices there run about 10% above the national average; 90 means about 10% below.
- All-items basis
- The overall cost-of-living index — a weighted composite covering housing, goods, utilities, and other services. This is the default, whole-basket comparison.
- Rents basis
- A narrower index covering only tenant rents and an imputed owner-equivalent rent value — not a homeowner's actual housing cost (mortgage, property tax, insurance). See the model assumptions for the full disclosure.
- Equivalent salary
- The salary in a second place that buys the same real purchasing power as your salary in your home place — calculated as salary x (index in the second place / index in your home place).
More questions answered
Can I compare a state to a metro area?
Yes — the calculator treats states and metro areas as equal, searchable places. Compare any combination: state to state, metro to metro, or state to metro.
What if I want to compare against the national average instead of a specific place?
Use the "Compare to US average" option in the picker, or the matching What-If chip, to set the second place to the national baseline instead of a specific state or metro.
Model assumptions & disclosures
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 vintage. Every figure on this page comes from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's Regional Price Parities (state table SARPP, metro table MARPP), released February 19, 2026. This is the same government data behind BEA's own real personal income statistics — not a third-party cost-of-living estimate. BEA's next release (the 2025 vintage) is scheduled for December 10, 2026; figures here will not reflect that update until this site's data is regenerated afterward.
Pre-tax — state and local income tax are not modeled. Regional Price Parities measure differences in the price of goods, services, and rent across places. They say nothing about what you'd actually keep after state or local income tax, sales tax, or property tax — all of which vary independently of cost of living and are real, separate factors in any relocation or job-offer decision.
The "Rent only" basis is a renters' index, not a homeowner's housing cost. BEA defines this series specifically: rents RPPs are estimated only for observed tenants' actual rents and an imputed rental-equivalent value for owner-occupied homes — they do not include a homeowner's own mortgage payment, property tax, insurance, or maintenance costs. If you own your home, switching to "Rent only" shows what a tenant pays in each place, not your own housing expense — it is never a stand-in for "housing costs" broadly.
Metro-area rents are a 3-year average, not a single-year snapshot. BEA estimates state-level rents from a single year of Census American Community Survey (ACS) data, but metro-area rents from a smoothed 3-year ACS average — metro areas are smaller geographies and need the extra years of data for a reliable sample. That smoothing is real: Coeur d'Alene, ID's metro rents index moved from 99.7 to 117.2 and back to 105.6 across the three years folded into the 2024 figure alone. A metro rents number is a multi-year average, not "as of 2024" the way the all-items and state figures are.
Not financial advice. This calculator provides an estimate to help you plan a comparison, not a guarantee of what you'd actually pay or earn in either place. Combine it with your own research — including actual job offers, tax rates, and cost quotes for your specific situation — before making a relocation or compensation decision.