What Is a Cost of Living Calculator?
A cost of living calculator compares the relative cost of everyday expenses — housing, groceries, transportation, utilities, and more — between two cities, and estimates the salary you'd need in a new city to maintain the same standard of living you have today.
How to Use the Cost of Living Calculator
- Enter your current annual salary.
- Select your current city from the dropdown (or choose "Custom / Other city" to type in your own index).
- Select the target city you're comparing against (or use a custom index for it too).
- View the equivalent salary you'd need in the target city, and the percentage cost-of-living difference between the two.
Cost of Living Formula
Cost of Living Index Data
This calculator uses the following approximate cost of living index values (New York, NY = 100.0 baseline), sourced from Numbeo, 2026 mid-year data. Numbeo's indices are crowdsourced and updated regularly, so treat these as a general guide rather than an exact, current figure — always check Numbeo directly or other current sources for major financial decisions like a relocation.
| City | Index | City | Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 100.0 | Denver, CO | 78.5 |
| Honolulu, HI | 105.4 | Phoenix, AZ | 75.9 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94.9 | Minneapolis, MN | 75.9 |
| Washington, DC | 92.1 | Atlanta, GA | 78.0 |
| Seattle, WA | 91.4 | Chicago, IL | 75.8 |
| Boston, MA | 89.0 | Dallas, TX | 75.3 |
| San Jose, CA | 87.7 | Nashville, TN | 74.0 |
| Anchorage, AK | 87.4 | Columbus, OH | 73.8 |
| Miami, FL | 85.1 | Charlotte, NC | 71.9 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 84.5 | Austin, TX | 71.2 |
| San Diego, CA | 83.7 | Detroit, MI | 68.4 |
| Portland, OR | 83.6 | Houston, TX | 65.1 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 81.3 |
Don't see your city, or think the index is out of date? Choose "Custom / Other city" in either dropdown to type in your own cost of living index number from a source you trust.
Worked Example
New York index: 100.0 | Austin index: 71.2
Equivalent salary: $100,000 × (71.2 ÷ 100.0) = $71,200
Austin's overall cost of living is about 28.8% lower than New York's, so a $71,200 salary in Austin would go about as far as $100,000 does in New York.
Understanding Your Results
The Equivalent Salary is what you'd need to earn in the target city to maintain the same overall purchasing power you have today. The Cost Difference percentage shows how much more or less expensive the target city is overall. Remember that a single index number blends many categories of spending — your own budget may lean more heavily on categories (like housing) that differ from the overall average.
Why Cost of Living Index Numbers Are Approximate
- An index aggregates many categories — rent, groceries, transportation, utilities, restaurants, and more — into one number relative to a baseline city, which smooths over real differences in your personal spending pattern.
- Housing costs in particular can vary enormously within a single city depending on the neighborhood, so your actual rent or mortgage may differ a lot from the city-wide average baked into the index.
- Index values are estimates that change over time as prices shift, and different data providers (Numbeo, government agencies, private research firms) can produce somewhat different numbers for the same city.
- State and local income taxes are not part of a cost of living index and can meaningfully change how far your take-home pay actually goes.
Frequently Asked Questions
A cost of living index aggregates the relative price of everyday expenses — rent, groceries, transportation, utilities, and more — in a city compared to a baseline city (here, New York, NY = 100.0), giving one overall number for easy comparison.
The index values used here are based on Numbeo's 2026 mid-year data. Numbeo's crowdsourced indices are updated regularly and can shift over time, so check Numbeo directly or another current source before making a major financial decision.
Select "Custom / Other city" from either dropdown and enter your own cost of living index number (for example, one you found on Numbeo or another cost of living resource) to run the comparison with that value instead.
Yes, it's a helpful starting point for a relocation salary conversation, but treat the number as a general guide rather than a precise target — factor in your own spending habits, housing situation, taxes, and any employer relocation adjustment as well.
No — this calculator only compares the general cost of living index between cities. State and local income taxes can differ significantly between locations and should be considered separately when evaluating a move.