See exactly how far your salary goes across 25 US cities. Compare housing, food, taxes, and discretionary spending side by side.
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Your salary's real value depends heavily on where you live. A $100,000 income in San Francisco or New York City buys significantly less than the same amount in Memphis or Indianapolis. The cost of living index (COL) quantifies this — a city with index 150 is 50% more expensive than the national average (100).
We use cost of living indices covering housing, food, transportation, and taxes across 25 major US cities. The equivalent salary formula is: Equivalent = Salary × (Destination COL ÷ Origin COL). We then apply city-specific state income tax rates to show real take-home differences.
The most affordable large US cities in 2026 remain Memphis (COL 82), Oklahoma City (85), and Indianapolis (88). The most expensive are San Francisco (187), New York City (187), and San Jose (175). Remote work has compressed some differences as workers relocated to lower-cost cities, slightly increasing costs in Austin and Nashville — but the gap remains enormous.