Compare job offers by adjusting for cost of living, taxes, benefits, commute costs, and purchasing power across different cities.
The headline number on a job offer is the least trustworthy number on it. This calculator takes the gross salaries of two offers, in two cities, and rebuilds them as what each actually leaves you with: estimated taxes subtracted, benefit premiums and commute costs deducted, then the remainder re-scaled by the cost-of-living difference between the cities. The result is each offer's real purchasing power on one comparable scale. The surprise is usually the direction: a modest raise can become a pay cut once taxes and prices are applied, and the tool frequently flips which offer wins.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Offer 1: City A (cost of living index 100), $100,000 gross, estimated taxes $22,000, benefits and commute $8,000. Offer 2: City B (index 125), $120,000 gross, estimated taxes $30,000, benefits and commute $6,000.
Expected output
City A: $70,000 spendable. City B: $84,000 spendable, equal to $67,200 at City A prices. City A is the stronger offer by $2,800.
Each offer is netted down to spendable income ($100,000 - $22,000 - $8,000 = $70,000; $120,000 - $30,000 - $6,000 = $84,000), then City B's remainder is divided by its index ratio of 1.25, giving $67,200. The extra $20,000 of gross salary is lost to higher taxes and a 25% pricier city, so it buys $2,800 less.
Each offer starts as gross salary. The tool subtracts an estimated tax bill built from standard federal, state, and local withholding tables plus payroll taxes, then deducts the benefit costs and commuting expenses you enter, such as health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, transit passes, parking, and fuel. What remains is the money the offer actually puts in your pocket each year before the city's prices get involved.
The tool divides each offer's spendable income by its city's cost-of-living index, where the baseline city scores 100. A city at index 125 is priced 25% above baseline, so $84,000 spendable there equals $67,200 of baseline purchasing power. Both offers land on the same scale, and the tool reports which keeps more of your money after taxes, costs, and prices. The index is a city average, not a personal budget.
No. Only the money you actually spend needs to keep pace, and it must first absorb a different tax bill plus different benefit and commute costs, so the break-even raise is rarely the same percentage as the price gap. A 15% pricier city can require a raise from below 10% to well above 20% of gross, depending on those offsets. Read the tool's break-even figure rather than scaling the headline.
For cost of living, use the city where you live and spend, because that is where prices act on your money. For taxes, your state of residence sets your income tax, and some states also tax based on where the work is performed, with credits or reciprocity in many cases. The tool is a comparison aid, not tax advice, so confirm an unusual arrangement with a professional.
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