Calculator
What salary do you need?
Keep the life you have now in a new city. The formula is on the page, so you can check the math.
Salary needed
$91,500
To live in Los Angeles the way $90,000 lets you live in New York, you need about $1,661 more a year.
Median rent
$1,933
vs $1,821 in New York
Rent at 30% of income
$77,320
income to rent the median home
Median household
$81,939
earns this in Los Angeles
Formula: income x ((1 - 30%) + 30% x 1.06). Housing costs come from Census ACS medians; other prices are held equal for now, so treat this as a housing-led estimate, not a full cost-of-living index.