Compare the real cost of living
Pick two cities and see what's different. Housing, goods, services, taxes. Real government data behind every number.
What about your salary?
Enter your income to see what you'd need to earn in the other city.
Popular Comparisons
The moves people research most.
Most Affordable Cities
Ranked by cost index: the average of renting, buying, goods, and services vs. national average. US = 100.
Sources: Census ACS 2024 (rent, home prices), BEA Regional Price Parities 2023 (goods, services), Tax Foundation (taxes).
How It Works
Pick Two Places
Choose any two cities from our database of 147 US cities. All data comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau.
See the Difference
Get a category-by-category comparison: housing, goods, and services. Based on BEA Regional Price Parities.
Add Your Salary
Optionally enter your income to see what you'd need to earn in the new city to maintain your standard of living.
Built on Data You Can Trust
Other cost of living tools rely on crowdsourced guesses. We use official government data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Census Bureau, Tax Foundation, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more. For international destinations, we draw from the World Bank and OECD. Every number has a source.
Your data stays in your browser. We don't collect, store, or transmit the information you enter. It's your money and your business.
Explore Cost of Living
Dive into detailed profiles with tax breakdowns, budget estimates, and salary comparisons.
US States
Compare all 50 states. See tax snapshots, city rankings, and how each state measures up to the national average.
Browse states →US Cities
Detailed profiles for hundreds of cities. Housing costs, monthly budgets, and local insights.
Browse cities →International
Thinking about living abroad? See what your American salary buys in Portugal, Thailand, Mexico, Japan, and more.
Browse countries →Frequently Asked Questions
For US locations, we primarily use the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities, which measure how prices for goods, services, and housing differ across states and metro areas. We supplement this with data from the Census Bureau (income and housing costs), the Tax Foundation (state tax rates), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (consumer price indices), and HUD (rental data).
For international destinations, we use purchasing power parity data from the World Bank and OECD, combined with cost surveys and official government statistics from individual countries.
The comparisons provide a solid estimate based on regional cost of living indices and real economic data. They're a starting point for your research, not a precise prediction. Your actual experience will depend on your specific neighborhood, housing choices, lifestyle, family size, and tax situation. We recommend using the results alongside your own research.
Yes. All calculations happen entirely in your web browser. Nothing you enter is sent to our servers, stored in a database, or shared with anyone. We use Google Analytics to understand overall site traffic patterns, but your personal data stays on your device.
Cost of living indices compare the price of a standard basket of goods and services in one location against a baseline (in our case, the US national average, set at 100). A city with an index of 120 is roughly 20% more expensive than average, while a city at 85 is roughly 15% less expensive. We break this down by category because the differences vary significantly. A city might have average grocery costs but well-above-average housing.
Yes. When you enter your salary, we include a simplified tax comparison showing estimated federal income tax, state income tax, and local income tax for both locations. This is especially important for moves between states with very different tax structures, like going from a no-income-tax state to a high-tax state.
The comparison calculator currently covers US cities only. We do have international cost of living profiles for popular destinations like Portugal, Thailand, Mexico, and Japan at our international section, but these are not yet integrated into the calculator. We're working on adding reliable international data.