Salary Comparison Calculator
A Higher Number Isn't Always a Better Offer
A $90,000 salary in one city can buy less than a $70,000 salary in another, and a job paid biweekly isn't automatically worth less than one paid monthly just because the per-paycheck number looks smaller. Comparing job offers honestly means normalizing for cost of living and pay frequency before looking at the raw numbers, which is exactly what this calculator does in two modes.
The Formula
Equivalent Salary = Current Salary × (New City COL Index / Current City COL Index)
Pay Frequency Comparison:
Annual Salary = Pay Rate × Number of Pay Periods per Year
Pay periods per year are fixed by frequency: hourly uses 2,080 (40-hour weeks × 52), daily uses 260 working days, weekly uses 52, biweekly uses 26, monthly uses 12, and annual uses 1.
Cost of Living Adjustment in Practice
The cost-of-living index is a ratio, so the same salary produces a proportionally different equivalent depending on how far apart the two index values are.
| New city COL index | Equivalent salary needed | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| 80 (cheaper) | $64,000.00 | −$16,000.00 |
| 100 (same) | $80,000.00 | $0.00 |
| 120 (pricier) | $96,000.00 | +$16,000.00 |
| 150 (much pricier) | $120,000.00 | +$40,000.00 |
Use published cost-of-living indices for the specific cities being compared — the ratio between them, not the absolute index values, is what drives the result.
Where This Calculation Matters
- Relocation offers — determining whether a raise attached to a move actually improves your standard of living.
- Remote job comparisons — evaluating offers from companies in different metro areas with different pay scales.
- Switching pay structures — comparing an hourly contract role against a salaried one on an apples-to-apples annual basis.
- Negotiating a counteroffer — quantifying exactly how much higher a competing offer needs to be to be genuinely better.
How to Use This Calculator
- Choose Cost of Living Adjustment or Compare Two Salaries from the mode selector.
- For Cost of Living Adjustment, enter Current Salary ($), Current City COL Index, and New City COL Index.
- For Compare Two Salaries, enter Salary A Amount ($) with its pay period, then Salary B Amount ($) with its pay period (hourly, daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, or annual).
- Select Calculate to see the annualized comparison and which offer is higher.
Related Calculations
Once you've settled on total compensation, see the Commission Calculator for offers with variable pay, or the ROI Calculator if the decision involves a relocation or training investment.