Take the salary you earn today, drop in the city you want to move to, and the calculator returns the gross figure you need to keep the same standard of living. Numbers are May 2026, recalculated monthly.
Most cost of living calculators on the open web compare two Numbeo indices and call it done. That misses two thirds of the variable. The everycity calculator weights three things: housing, which we price as the median rent on a central one bedroom; baseline consumption, which we price as the OECD basket of groceries, transport, utilities, and one mid range dinner a week; and the marginal tax position on the gross salary you enter. The output is the gross salary you need in the target city to keep the same monthly take home after rent and tax.
The calculator is built on the same data set that powers the city profiles for Dubai, Singapore, London, Tokyo, Lisbon, and 45 other cities. If you want the cost lines piece by piece, the 2026 cost of living report walks every line item. For the comparison view across two cities, the cost converter sits next to this one.
Important read on the result. The calculator returns a salary that holds your purchasing power flat. It does not factor savings rate, healthcare premiums on the private market, the cost of moving, or the first three months of double rent that most relocations carry. For the full move budget, the relocation checklist covers the line items the recruiters skip.
Drop in your salary, your current city, and the city you are moving to. Recalculates instantly.
Output adjusts monthly cost basis, central one bedroom rent, and the marginal tax band. Currency is USD on a May 2026 mid market rate.
To match a $120,000 take home position from your current city.
Reading the output. If the calculator returns a higher number than your current salary, the target city is more expensive on the weighted basket; if it returns a lower number, you keep purchasing power on a smaller gross. Tax is the variable that swings the result hardest. Moving from London on a 45 percent marginal rate to Dubai on a 0 percent rate compresses the equivalent gross by roughly a third even before rent enters the math.
If you are running the calculator before accepting a written offer, set the output as the floor of your negotiation, not the target. Recruiters routinely lowball relocation packages by 8 to 18 percent against the everycity equivalence; closing that gap is the highest leverage 30 minutes you will spend in the process. The relocation package guide has the scripts.
Three weighted inputs, one output. The whole formula in 90 seconds.
For comparisons that rank the full population on a single chart, the cheapest cities ranking sorts on the basket alone, the highest paying cities ranking sorts on net take home for a senior software role, and the lowest tax cities ranking sorts on the marginal rate. Use the calculator for your specific number, the rankings for the cross city pattern.
The calculator's output for a 120,000 dollar baseline in five common origin cities.
Two patterns the table makes visible. First, the United States to Asia route returns a smaller equivalent gross than the math suggests on the headline because state and city tax in places like New York and California push the effective rate above 40 percent for a 120,000 dollar earner. Second, the Europe to Gulf route inverts the standard relocation: you can take a salary cut on paper and still come out ahead because there is no income tax to feed.
For the long form read on each move, the comparison pages for London vs Dubai, New York vs Lisbon, and San Francisco vs Tokyo walk the variables side by side.
Relocations get sold on the headline tax saving and the lifestyle photography. The calculator strips both away. If your equivalent gross sits above your offer, the move is a pay cut; if it sits below, you are taking a raise that the recruiter has not yet bothered to mention. Either result is useful before you sign. Use the number, then add the relocation score on top to weight safety, climate, and visa difficulty alongside the cost. The two tools together get you to the floor of a real decision.
For the comparison view across two cities, see the cost converter or any of Dubai vs Singapore, London vs Lisbon, or New York vs Austin.