These are all the cities we have sourced so far. Pick any two.
Your money
We've pre-filled the typical take-home. Change it to your real number.
Enter your take-home pay where you live now, pick a city to compare against, abroad included, and see the monthly salary you would need there to keep the same life. Every figure comes straight from our city guides, sourced and checked city by city..
By Lin Hai, from figures sourced city by city. Nothing here is scraped or estimated. Read how on the About page.
These are all the cities we have sourced so far. Pick any two.
Before you go
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Questions people actually ask
It is the monthly take-home you would need in the new city to keep the same money left over after costs as you have now. We pull your current city's all-in cost out of your pay, then add the new city's all-in cost back. This is not a generic cost index. The surplus you actually have carries over.
Multiplying your pay by the cost-of-living ratio scales your whole income, savings and all. That lowballs what you need, because it assumes your savings should shrink too in the pricier city. The break-even here holds your leftover steady, which is what 'same standard of living' really means.
Yes. Unlike the move calculator, this one handles any pair: China to China, China to a city abroad, or two cities abroad like Austin versus Seattle. Pick any two from the cards.
A few cities have solid cost data but no verifiable individual take-home. You can still use the tool. Just enter your own current pay. The equivalent number comes from costs either way. We only skip the 'typical local pay' comparison for that city.
Every figure comes from this site's city guides, which we build from public data (Wise, Numbeo, Livingcost.org, government statistics, local news) and cross-check against each other on each city page. The calculator does no estimating of its own. It lines up numbers already verified there. If a figure cannot be traced to a named source, we do not show it. The full method is on our methodology page.
Treat the break-even as your walk-away floor, not your target. Negotiate up from it. If the role brings faster promotion, equity, or skills you cannot get where you are, weigh that above pure cost parity. Only accept below break-even if you value the move for reasons the math cannot price.
Rent and everyday cost only. It leaves out income tax, bonuses and equity, one-time moving costs, visas and paperwork, and quality-of-life factors like commute and healthcare. Add a buffer for those. The number is a cost-of-living floor for pay, not total compensation.