Start with the published median for your occupation in both metropolitan areas, which gives the gross gap exactly. Then subtract the housing difference at a real address, the state and local tax difference, and the change in commuting and childcare. Finally spread the one-off cost of moving across the years you realistically expect to stay. A move that clears all four is worth taking.
Step one is free and precise
Published metropolitan wage figures give the median for your occupation in each area. That single comparison kills a surprising number of moves before any other work is done, because cities that feel like obvious upgrades often are not for a specific job.
| Software Developers | Median |
|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $213,110 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,640 |
| California | $174,410 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $167,280 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $166,830 |
| Washington | $166,540 |
| New York | $166,180 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $166,090 |
| Massachusetts | $165,210 |
| Boulder, CO | $164,560 |
| United States, all areas | $135,980 |
Notice how close some of these are to each other. A move between two metros a few thousand dollars apart is not a pay decision at all; it is a life decision that happens to be pay-neutral, and it is worth knowing which one you are making.
Step two is the one people skip
Housing at an actual address you would actually accept — not a city average, which is dragged around by neighbourhoods you would never live in. Get a real rent or a real mortgage quote for a real place. This is usually the largest single adjustment and frequently reverses the answer.
Step three is arithmetic
State and local income tax, which can be several per cent of gross in either direction. Commuting, in both money and hours. Childcare, which varies enormously by area and by the hours a job actually requires.
Step four is the one-off
The move itself, minus whatever the employer covers after tax, spread over the years you expect to stay. A $15,000 net cost across two years is $7,500 a year against the gap; across six years it is $2,500. The same move can pass or fail depending only on how long you stay.
What the published data cannot tell you
What living there costs. Wage data is a wage survey and nothing else, which is why this calculation has a free, precise half and a laborious, personal half. Anyone offering you a single cost-of-living index that settles it is compressing your actual circumstances into an average.
Common questions
Where do I get the gross gap?
Published metropolitan wage figures for your occupation in both areas. It is free, precise, and takes minutes.
Why not use a cost-of-living index?
Because it averages a whole city, including neighbourhoods you would never live in. A real quote for a real address is far more accurate.
How do I handle the one-off cost of moving?
Spread the net cost across the years you realistically expect to stay. The same move passes or fails depending on that number alone.
Is a bigger city always a raise?
Not for a specific occupation. Some metros people think of as upgrades sit within a couple of thousand dollars of each other.
What is usually the largest adjustment?
Housing, by a wide margin, followed by the state and local tax difference and then commuting.