Guide
How to compare the financial impact of relocating
What salary do I need to relocate?
An equivalent salary depends on entered taxes, housing, transportation, recurring expenses, compensation and benefits, household income, and moving costs. The calculator solves against actual modeled cash flow instead of applying a simple cost-of-living multiplier to current salary.
Cost of living vs equivalent salary
A city that costs 10% more does not automatically require exactly 10% more gross salary. Real-world progressive taxes—and, in this model, differing entered effective tax assumptions—combine with fixed expenses and the mix of housing, commute, and household costs.
First-year relocation salary
Ongoing break-even preserves the recurring financial position after the move. First-year break-even also reflects modeled nonrecoverable transition costs and entered employer assistance; it is a planning estimate, not a required salary demand.
Comparing compensation between locations
Expected cash applies bonus attainment while target cash preserves the full target. Employer retirement and employer-paid benefits add compensation value; employee retirement contributions do not.
Housing cash flow and its limitations
Rent and ownership are compared as cash outflows. The model does not separate mortgage principal, value equity, estimate appreciation, or calculate a mortgage.
Detailed expenses vs regional price indexes
Detailed user-entered expenses are the primary basis. An optional user-entered regional index adjusts only an explicitly unitemized amount, avoiding an automatic city-cost assumption.
Partner income and employment gaps
Monthly timelines preserve partial-year income. A destination gap can model reduced income before a new partner income begins, while separately entered partner benefits remain visible.
Commute time and work-related costs
Office days account for paid leave. Miles, parking, transit, meals, weekly childcare, and monthly work costs reduce economic value; commute hours add to total job time.
Moving costs and employer reimbursement
Nonrecoverable costs reduce first-year destination value. Recoverable deposits and cash-only items increase initial cash required, while employer support stays separately visible and follows its entered timing and custom tax treatment.
Custom effective-tax assumptions
Optional rates apply only to the cash categories you enter. They do not represent an income-tax return, withholding calculation, refund, deduction, or determination of taxable status.
Required destination salary
A bounded monotonic solver changes destination base salary while retaining salary-based bonus, retirement match, benefits, household income, costs, tax rates, and the selected scenario.
Cumulative relocation break-even
Annual differences are accumulated across the selected horizon. This distinguishes an immediate destination lead from a later recovery of Year 1 moving costs.
What expense-adjusted cash flow means
Household cash after the optional custom tax estimate is reduced by recurring household and work costs. The result is not official purchasing-power parity or take-home pay.
What this calculator does not include
The calculator excludes live city data, geocoding, tax law, home equity, appreciation, financing models, probability-weighted scenarios, legal determinations, and personalized advice.