Cost of Living Adjustment Calculator

Why a bigger number isn't always a bigger raise

A nominally higher salary in an expensive city can actually represent a real pay cut once cost of living differences are properly factored in - comparing raw salary figures across different locations without this adjustment is misleading.

Worked example

For an $80,000 current salary, moving from a city with a cost of living index of 100 to one at 130:

Equivalent Salary = 80000 x (130/100) = 104,000.0

This means you'd need $104,000 in the new city just to maintain the same real purchasing power as your current $80,000 - any offer below that figure represents a real-terms pay cut, even though it's a larger number on paper.