Methodology

This page explains, in plain language, where the numbers on this site come from and how they are calculated.

Data source

All figures come from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the federal agency responsible for official US economic statistics. Specifically, we use the BEA’s Regional Price Parities (RPP) dataset, which measures how much local price levels differ across US metropolitan areas for the same basket of goods, services, and housing.

Data year

The site currently reflects 2024 data, the most recent year published by the BEA at the time of writing.

What an index of 100 means

Each metro area is scored against a national average set at 100. A metro area with an index of 110 has a price level about 10% above the national average; an index of 90 is about 10% below average. The same scale is used for the overall index and for the housing rents index shown on each page. Each metro page also breaks the overall figure down into its five BEA components — goods, housing rents, utilities, other services, and the overall composite — using the same 100-average scale.

The salary-equivalent formula

The estimated salary equivalent scales a salary by the ratio of two metro areas’ price levels: salary × rppB / rppA, where rppA is the overall RPP index for the origin metro area and rppB is the index for the destination metro area. This gives an estimate of the salary that would carry approximately the same purchasing power in the destination metro area, based purely on the relative price levels.

What the calculator includes and excludes

The index and the salary-equivalent estimate are based only on regional price levels for goods, services, and housing rents. They do not include or adjust for income taxes, state or local tax differences, household size, childcare, healthcare costs, transport choices, commute times, school quality, or personal housing circumstances (such as owning versus renting, or the size and type of home). Treat every figure as a starting point for research, not financial or relocation advice.

Why metro areas, not city limits

BEA Regional Price Parities are published at the metropolitan statistical area level, not for individual cities or neighbourhoods. We use familiar city names in selectors and page titles to make the tool easy to use, but every figure represents the wider metro area — for example, prices shown under “New York” reflect the New York metropolitan area as a whole, not just the five boroughs.

Update frequency

The BEA publishes new Regional Price Parities figures about once a year, usually in December, for the prior year. We update this site’s underlying data annually to reflect the latest release.

Compare My City is an independent project and is not operated by, endorsed by, or affiliated with the Bureau of Economic Analysis.