Salary Comparison Calculator
Compare your salary across cities using a built-in cost-of-living index for ~70 major world cities. Enter your current salary and city, pick a target city, and see the equivalent salary that maintains your purchasing power, plus a 5% relocation-buffer recommendation. All calculations run locally in your browser — no signup, no data leaves your device.
How to use
- 1
Enter your current salary
Type your gross annual salary in the currency of your current city. The calculator compares cost-of-living indexes — it does not perform currency conversion.
- 2
Pick current and target cities
Choose your current city and the city you're considering moving to from the dropdown. ~70 cities across 6 continents are included.
- 3
Read the equivalent and recommended salary
The equivalent salary preserves your purchasing power in the target city. The recommended ask adds a 5% buffer for relocation friction and risk.
- 4
Use the chart in negotiations
The bar chart visualises the salary you'd need in the target city to maintain the same standard of living. Use it as an anchor for salary negotiations or relocation planning.
Common use cases
- Negotiate a relocation package when your employer moves you between offices.
- Compare two job offers in different cities on a like-for-like basis.
- Decide whether a remote role with a lower nominal salary in a cheaper city is actually a raise.
- Plan a personal move: see how much salary you need to maintain your lifestyle abroad.
Limitations
- The cost-of-living index is a blended average of consumer prices, groceries, restaurants, transport and utilities — weighted roughly towards rent. It does not capture your specific spending pattern (e.g. if you own your home, rent weight should be lower for you).
- The tool does not perform currency conversion. If your current and target cities use different currencies, convert your salary to the target currency first using today's exchange rate, then run the comparison. The COL ratio is currency-agnostic.
- The index values are reasonable approximations compiled from public cost-of-living data sources (Numbeo, Expatistan) for general guidance. They are not official statistics and will drift over time with inflation.
- The 5% relocation buffer is a rule of thumb. Adjust based on your risk tolerance, family situation, visa costs and whether the employer is covering relocation.
- Tax differences between countries are not modelled. Two cities with the same COL index can have very different post-tax purchasing power depending on income tax bands.