DECISION TOOL
Move-To-City Financial Comparison
"Should I move to Texas?" gets a real answer. Same job offer, two cities. State income tax, sales tax, housing, fuel, utilities, schools, and FIRE-timeline impact in one picture. 117 US metros covered. Expenses and costs updated monthly where applicable.
DATA UPDATED: MAY 2026
Monthly: rent (Zillow ZORI), fuel + electricity (EIA).
Annual: state income tax + sales tax (Tax Foundation), cost-of-living + groceries + entertainment indices (BEA Regional Price Parities), schools (GreatSchools).
Read: Where Americans are actually moving in 2026 (and why) →
Or jump to a ready-made city vs city comparison (NYC vs Austin, SF vs Seattle, and 28 more) →
MILITARY PCS
Orders moving you to a new duty station? Compare your current base to the next one across rent, sales tax, gas, electricity, and schools before you sign on housing. 58 of 117 cities host a major military installation. Bases covered include Joint Base San Antonio (Lackland + Randolph + Fort Sam Houston), Fort Liberty (Fayetteville NC), Fort Cavazos (Killeen TX), JBLM (Tacoma WA), Naval Station Norfolk, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (Honolulu), JBER (Anchorage), Eielson AFB (Fairbanks), USAFA + Fort Carson + Peterson SFB (Colorado Springs), Hill AFB (Ogden), Tinker AFB (Oklahoma City), Davis-Monthan (Tucson), Kirtland AFB (Albuquerque), Nellis AFB (Las Vegas), MacDill AFB (Tampa, CENTCOM), Luke AFB (Phoenix), NAS Jacksonville + Mayport, NAS Oceana (Virginia Beach), Fort Meade (Baltimore-area), Hanscom AFB (Boston), Wright-Patterson AFB (Dayton), Keesler AFB (Biloxi), Joint Base Charleston, Fort Jackson (Columbia SC), Offutt AFB (Omaha, STRATCOM), Dover AFB, F.E. Warren AFB (Cheyenne, nuclear), Minot AFB (nuclear), Ellsworth AFB (Rapid City), Malmstrom AFB (Great Falls, nuclear), McConnell AFB (Wichita), Little Rock AFB, Mountain Home AFB, Fort Knox (Louisville), Fort Sill (Lawton), Fort Stewart (Hinesville), NAS Pensacola (Naval Aviation), Fort Eisenhower (Augusta), Redstone Arsenal (Huntsville), USNA (Annapolis), Naval Submarine Base New London (Groton), Naval Station Newport, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (Trenton NJ), and Pentagon + JB Anacostia-Bolling (DC). BAH covers housing in most ZIPs, but sales tax, gas, and electricity still vary by station.
Tax rates are effective (federal is post-standard-deduction, state is a single-bracket approximation for mid-six-figure incomes). Cost of living, groceries, and dining are indices where the national average equals 100. Rent is the median 1-bedroom listing. Fuel and electricity are state averages. Schools is a 1-10 composite rating. Sales tax is the combined state plus local effective rate. Educational only, not financial advice.
Compare Cities
Same number = remote, no offer change
0 = use city median
Why "Cost of Living" Calculators Mislead
Most online tools compare two cities on a flat "you'll need $X to live equivalently" basis. That's incomplete. The bigger driver of post-move financial outcomes is the combined effect of state income tax, housing cost, and how much disposable income gets freed up to save.
Two examples that pop out of the math: a $150,000 NYC salary moved to Austin at the same nominal salary frees up $14,000+ in state income tax alone. A San Francisco engineer moving to Seattle at the same comp keeps the salary, drops the state tax, and saves on housing. Both can accelerate FIRE by 3-5 years on the same gross income.
The catch: salary often rebases by city when you accept a new offer. Remote workers can preserve high-COL salary in low-COL areas, which is the most powerful version of this play. Pair with the FIRE number calculator to set the target, the budget calculator to model the new monthly picture, and the portfolio stress-test simulator to see whether the accelerated timeline actually survives a recession.