Salary needed calculator
Same job, different city — how much do you have to earn to stand still? This uses published price levels rather than a crowd-sourced basket.
Quick answer
Multiply your salary by the destination's price level and divide by your current city's. A $100,000 salary in a metro at 95 needs $115,800 in a metro at 110 to buy the same things.
Salary needed after a move
$
Salary needed in Tucson, AZ$76,073
Difference from today−$8,927
Overall price level-10.5%
Housing costs-38.2%
Tucson, AZ is 10.5% less expensive overall than Boston, MA, so $85,000 there buys what $76,073 buys here — before income tax, which this calculator deliberately leaves out.
Method and limits
Stated plainly, so you can check it.
- Price levels are BEA regional price parities (2024 BEA Regional Price Parities), national average = 100.
- Parities are metro-wide averages; a specific neighbourhood can differ sharply.
- No income tax, no commuting cost, no lifestyle change is modelled.
- For the tax side of a move, check local sales tax rates.
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities
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