Cost of Living Calculator
Compare what a salary buys in two US states using 2024 regional price parities from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
What it does
Two people can earn the same salary and have very different amounts of money to spend. The gap comes from price levels, and the cleanest way to measure it inside the United States is the regional price parity, a price level index that sets the national average at 100 and puts every state above or below it.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes these parities each year, built from price quotes in the consumer price index and from Census housing rents. A state at 110 means the overall basket of goods and services costs about ten percent more than the national average. A state at 87 means it costs about thirteen percent less.
The conversion is simple. To keep the same purchasing power, multiply your salary by the ratio of the two price levels. That gives the salary you would need in the other state to buy exactly what you buy now, which is what this tool calculates.
The number is a price level adjustment, not a take home pay figure. It says nothing about taxes, about state income tax rates, about rent on a specific house, or about how far the office is. Use it to compare two offers on paper, then check the local cost of rent, childcare and transport before you move.
The index also changes slowly. The 2024 release is the one used here, and BEA updates it once a year. Long term differences between states are stable, so the ranking rarely flips even when the exact numbers move a little.
How to use
- Enter the annual salary you want to compare.
- Pick the state where the salary is earned today.
- Pick the state you want to compare it with.
- Read the equivalent salary, the dollar gap and the percentage gap.
- Check the price level index for both states so you can see how strong the gap is.
- Then check the local rents, taxes and commute before making a decision.
Formula
- RPP
- Regional price parity, the price level index for an area, with the United States average set at 100.
- Salary
- The annual pay you want to compare.
- Origin
- The state where the salary is earned today.
- Destination
- The state where you want to know the equivalent pay.
The index is a price level measure, so it compares what a basket of goods costs in one place with the same basket elsewhere. It does not include income tax, and it treats a dollar of rent the same way as a dollar of groceries even though the two behave differently when you move. It also does not cover the cost of the move itself or any change in your own spending habits.
Worked example
Example: $60,000 in Mississippi against California
Defaults: $60,000 salary, Mississippi as the current state, California as the comparison state.
- Mississippi sits at an index of 87.0 and California at 110.7 for 2024.
- Ratio of the two price levels: 110.720 / 86.953 = 1.27333.
- Equivalent salary: $60,000 x 1.27333 = $76,399.89.
- Difference in pay: $76,399.89 - $60,000 = $16,399.89 more.
- Percentage gap: $16,399.89 / $60,000 = 27.3%.
- The tool shows $76,399.89, +$16,399.89, +27.3% and an index of 87.0 against 110.7.
Reference table
| State | Price level index | What $60,000 buys there |
|---|---|---|
| California | 110.7 | $54,191 |
| District of Columbia | 109.9 | $54,595 |
| Hawaii | 110.0 | $54,570 |
| New Jersey | 108.8 | $55,145 |
| Washington | 107.0 | $56,068 |
| Texas | 97.1 | $61,819 |
| Ohio | 92.8 | $64,673 |
| Mississippi | 87.0 | $69,003 |
| Arkansas | 86.9 | $69,015 |
| United States average | 100.0 | $60,000 |
Limits
- Uses all-items price levels, so a place with cheap rent and expensive groceries still lands near the national average.
- Ignores income tax, which can shift the real gap in either direction.
- Compares states, not neighborhoods, and the range inside one state can be wider than the gap between two states.
- Based on one published year, so it does not track a pay rise or a rent spike that happened after the data was compiled.
Common mistakes
- Dividing by the price levels instead of multiplying by the ratio, which flips the answer.
- Using the price level as a percent, so treating an index of 87.0 as 87% cheaper rather than 13% cheaper.
- Comparing the index with a rent figure from a single listing and expecting the two to match.
- Forgetting that the US average is already built into the index, so the average is 100 and not 1.
- Reading the result as take home pay instead of as a price level adjustment.
Try it yourself
Quick checks. Answers sit tucked under each question.
A $50,000 salary in Ohio moves to Texas. What salary in Texas keeps the same purchasing power?
Texas is at 97.1 and Ohio at 92.8. The ratio is 97.057 / 92.774 = 1.046, so $50,000 x 1.046 = $52,308.30. That is $2,308.30 more, a 4.6% gap.
What does a $60,000 salary in California buy in Mississippi?
Mississippi is at 87.0 and California at 110.7, so $60,000 x 86.953 / 110.720 = $47,120.48. The California salary is worth $47,120.48 in Mississippi, a gap of 21.5%.
A $45,000 job in Iowa pays the same real wage as what in Washington?
Washington is at 107.0 and Iowa at 87.8, so $45,000 x 107.013 / 87.762 = $54,870.96. You would need $54,870.96 in Washington to buy the same basket.
Questions
What is a regional price parity?
It is an index of the price level of a basket of goods and services in an area, expressed against the national average of 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes it for every state and many metropolitan areas.
How is this different from the consumer price index?
The consumer price index measures how prices change over time in one place. Regional price parities measure how price levels differ between places at one point in time. You can use one without the other.
Is this the same as a cost of living index?
It is close. Many cost of living indexes are built from the same kind of price data. The regional price parity is the official federal measure of price level differences, so this tool uses it directly.
Does the tool tell me what to take home?
No. It converts a gross salary into the equivalent salary at another price level. Taxes, deductions and benefits are not part of the calculation.
Which states are the most expensive?
In the 2024 data California is highest at 110.7, with Hawaii at 110.0, the District of Columbia at 109.9 and New Jersey at 108.8. Arkansas is lowest at 86.9, followed by Mississippi at 87.0.
Can I use it to compare two cities?
This page compares states. BEA also publishes the same index for metropolitan areas, so you can look up the metro figure for your city and do the same ratio by hand with the formula shown above.
Sources
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Regional Price Parities by State and Metro Area
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Technical Notes on Regional Price Parities
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Regional Price Parities by State