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Cost of Living Comparison
Compare price levels between places, with the source, period and limits explained.
Career tool
Relocation Break-Even Calculator
How long until a move pays for itself — and whether it ever does.
The move, in your numbers
Break-even
10 months
until the move's one-time costs are covered by the monthly improvement
Estimate · your numbers
- One-time costs
- $6,500.00
- Relocation package
- −$1,500.00
- Net one-time cost
- $5,000.00
- Left over each month now
- $1,000.00
- Left over each month after
- $1,500.00
- Monthly improvement
- $500.00
- Yearly improvement (ongoing)
- $6,000.00
How this was calculated
Break-even months = (one-time costs − relocation package) ÷ monthly improvement, where improvement = (new take-home − new costs) − (current take-home − current costs). If the improvement is zero or negative, the move never pays back in money.
Calculation scenarios.relocation v1.0.0. No discounting.
Use your own budget, not an average
Cost-of-living indexes compare average prices. For an actual move, your own numbers are better: what you'd take home after tax in each place and what you'd actually spend there. The cost of living calculator is useful for a first look; this one tells you how long the move takes to pay for itself.
Things people forget to count
- Overlap of two rents or a lease-break fee.
- Car registration, licences and utility connection fees.
- Relocation packages that must be repaid if you leave early — check the terms.
- Differences in state and local taxes, which change take-home pay.