This dashboard takes a $100,000 salary based in Dallas, TX (DFW) and calculates its
equivalent purchasing power across the top 30 most populous cities in the United States.
Rather than comparing raw salaries, the tool adjusts for the true cost of living in each city,
giving a realistic picture of what that income is actually worth depending on where you live.
The adjustment accounts for five cost factors: overall cost of living index, median home prices,
median rent, gas index, and grocery index. Every figure recalculates in real time as the user
interacts with the dashboard.
Features
Real-time salary adjustment: Every figure across all 30 cities updates instantly as inputs change.
Sortable columns: Sort the table by equivalent salary, median home price, median rent, grocery index, or overall cost of living.
City search: Search for any specific city to jump directly to its adjusted figures.
Five cost factors: Cost of living index, median home prices, median rent, gas index, and grocery index are all factored into the salary equivalency calculation.
Notable Results
Some of the results from the DFW baseline are striking. A few highlights from the data:
A $100K salary in DFW is equivalent to only $45K in San Francisco after adjusting for cost of living.
In cities like El Paso and Indianapolis, purchasing power actually increases relative to DFW; the same income goes further.
Austin, just three hours from Dallas, erodes roughly 13% of buying power despite being in the same state.
These results illustrate how significantly geography affects real compensation, even within the same region.
Who It Is For
This tool is particularly useful for recent graduates evaluating job offers across multiple cities,
professionals considering relocation, or anyone curious about how their current salary compares
in real purchasing power terms to other parts of the country. A $120K offer in New York and a
$90K offer in Dallas are not directly comparable without this kind of adjustment.
