Cost of Living Calculator
Compare two places line by line and see what the difference means for your salary.
Moving is usually a pay question dressed as a lifestyle question. The useful comparison is not "is city B cheaper" but "how much of my income does each city take, and what is left at the end".
Enter your monthly cost in both places, your current income and the salary you would earn in the new one. You get the annual difference and the salary you would need there to keep the same standard of living.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Monthly cost in your current place, Monthly cost in the new place, Your monthly income now
- What you get
- Monthly cost difference, Annual cost difference, Salary that keeps you level
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Cost of Living Calculator
- 1 Enter Monthly cost in your current place - Housing, food, transport, bills and everyday spending combined.
- 2 Enter Monthly cost in the new place
- 3 Enter Your monthly income now
- 4 Press Calculate. You get Monthly cost difference, Annual cost difference, Salary that keeps you level, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 5 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A $600 a month saving by moving
Costs of $2,800 where you live now against $2,200 in the new place, on a $4,000 income.
You enter
- Monthly cost in your current place
- $2,800.00
- Monthly cost in the new place
- $2,200.00
- Your monthly income now
- $4,000.00
You get
- Monthly cost difference
- -$600.00
- Annual cost difference
- -$7,200.00
- Salary that keeps you level
- $3,142.86
The new place is $600 cheaper each month, which is $7,200 over a year. Costs there would take 55% of the income you entered instead of 70%, and about $3,143 would keep you level, meaning the same standard of living at a lower salary.
A $750 a month increase
Costs of $2,400 now against $3,150 in the new place, with a $4,600 income.
You enter
- Monthly cost in your current place
- $2,400.00
- Monthly cost in the new place
- $3,150.00
- Your monthly income now
- $4,600.00
You get
- Monthly cost difference
- $750.00
- Annual cost difference
- $9,000.00
- Salary that keeps you level
- $6,037.50
The new place costs $750 more each month, or $9,000 a year. Keeping level there would take about $6,038, which is roughly $1,438 more than the current income, so the move only works financially if the pay rises by at least that much.
Guides that go with it
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Frequently asked questions
What should I include in the monthly cost for each place?
Build the same basket on both sides: housing, utilities, groceries, transport, insurance, health costs, childcare if you use it, and the everyday spending you would keep in either place. The calculator works on the difference between the two figures, so a category that appears on one side and not the other turns into a false difference rather than an error you can see.
Use the same household shape in both columns too. A single person in one column and a family in the other produces a number that says more about the household than about the two places.
How is the salary that keeps me level worked out?
It scales your current income by the ratio of the two costs: current income multiplied by cost of the new place divided by cost of where you live now. If the new place costs 10% more, the salary that keeps you level is 10% higher, because that is what leaves the same amount of money in your pocket after local costs.
It is a cash comparison only. It ignores income tax differences, one-off moving costs, currency, and anything you value that does not have a price, such as being closer to family. Treat it as the number to negotiate around.
Should I compare two places, or one place against where I live now?
Either works, because the calculator only needs two monthly cost levels and an income. The most common use is where you live now against a place you are considering, which answers whether the move is worth it in money terms.
If you do not yet have a destination in mind and want to test a lifestyle and household size instead, use the Where Can I Live With My Salary? calculator, which builds an estimate from a cost base, a lifestyle and the number of people the salary supports.
Why does the annual difference matter more than the monthly one?
The monthly difference is easier to picture, but the annual figure is twelve times larger and is the one that decides whether a move pays for itself. A $200 a month gap sounds small until it is $2,400 a year, and it is the number to hold against the one-off cost of moving.
Read the two together: if the new place saves $2,400 a year and the move costs $4,000, the first year is a loss and the saving only starts in the second year. The Moving Cost Calculator totals that one-off bill.
Terms used here
Short, plain-language definitions of the words this calculator uses.