$150k in San Francisco buys what $80k buys in Atlanta. Salary numbers without cost-of-living context lie about your real wealth.
There is a lot of jargon around this one. Strip it away and the math is genuinely simple. $150k in San Francisco buys what $80k buys in Atlanta. Salary numbers without cost-of-living context lie about your real wealth.
Housing, taxes, healthcare, childcare. These dominate cost-of-living differences.
Use a city COL index. Multiply target salary by (target city COL / current city COL).
State income tax can swing 0–13%. Don't forget property tax and sales tax.
Commute time, climate, social network — worth real money even if not budget money.
Are COL indexes accurate? Within ±10%. They average baskets that may not match your spending.
What about international moves? Add currency stability, visa costs, healthcare differences. Bigger swings than domestic.
Whatever number you land on, sanity-check it against a second method or a quick estimate in your head.