About RelocateMath
RelocateMath answers one practical question: will I be better off if I move to another state?
Who runs RelocateMath
RelocateMath is published by Abu Hasnat. It has been online since 2026.
Abu Hasnat
Founder & editor
Abu Hasnat founded RelocateMath and builds its calculators and data from official sources: the IRS, Census Bureau, BEA and state revenue and motor vehicle agencies. Not a CPA or tax preparer; every tax figure is checked by automated tests against the states' own tables and worked examples, and fixes are listed in the corrections log.
Why we built this
Most relocation tools look at one piece of the picture. Tax calculators ignore rent. Cost-of-living indexes ignore taxes. Moving-company pages only quote the truck. A real move changes all of these at once, so a salary that looks like a raise can turn out to be a pay cut, and a "cheap" state can cost more once property tax and insurance are counted.
We put the numbers that matter side by side: take-home pay after federal and state taxes, rent and home prices, property tax, homeowners insurance, electricity, the cost of the move itself, and what changes for retirees and cross-border commuters.
How we calculate
- Take-home pay: 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, each state's 2026 income tax and payroll programs, and, on city pages, the resident income tax of the 20 cities we cover that levy one.
- Buying power: take-home pay divided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level for the state or metro area (U.S. = 100), which gives the salary that buys the same in the new place.
- Housing: Census median rent, home value, property tax and homeowners insurance (what owners with a mortgage pay), and mortgage payments at Freddie Mac's weekly 30-year rate.
- Retirement: the IRS worksheet for taxable Social Security, then each state's rules for Social Security, pensions and IRA withdrawals.
- Moving costs: distance-based ranges fitted to 198 published price ranges on 22 interstate routes from moveBuddha's route pages, checked against 47 independent published prices (U-Pack's dated quotes for its own and other companies' moves, HireAHelper's rental-truck database and Move.org's full-service medians), which raised the top of several ranges. Moves to and from Alaska and Hawaii use Matson's published household-goods container rates and published container and mover prices. They are estimates, not quotes.
Our methodology page gives every formula and source.
Where our numbers come from
Our figures come from sources anyone can check: government data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the IRS, the Energy Information Administration, FEMA, the BLS and state revenue and motor-vehicle agencies, plus published benchmarks where no government data exists: car insurance averages from the NAIC, gas prices from AAA, health premiums from KFF's analysis of CMS data, and moving and car-shipping prices from published route quotes. Our editorial policy explains how we review and correct content. Data was last reviewed on September 25, 2026.
Corrections log
When a figure or rule on the site was wrong, we fix it on every affected page and record it here, newest first. The entries from September 24, 2026 come from a full review of our calculators.
- Lexington local tax. Take-home pay in Lexington now includes the occupational license taxes on wages: the Urban County Government’s 2.25% fee and the Fayette County schools’ 0.5% tax on residents (we had only mentioned the tax, without counting it).
- Maine income tax. Now uses Maine Revenue Services’ 2026 schedule: a standard deduction of $15,700 single and $31,400 joint (we had used $8,350), the 2026 brackets, and the 2% surcharge on taxable income above $1 million single or $1.5 million joint.
- Massachusetts surtax. The 4% surtax now starts at the 2026 threshold of $1,107,750 of taxable income (we had used the 2025 threshold).
- Payroll taxes. Take-home pay now counts Oregon’s statewide transit tax (0.1% of wages), Alaska’s employee unemployment insurance (0.5% of the first $54,200) and Pennsylvania’s employee unemployment compensation tax (0.07%).
- Retirement taxes. State breaks for Social Security, pensions and IRA withdrawals now apply each state’s age requirement, income limit and dollar cap. Minnesota and Vermont phase out their Social Security exclusions gradually, as their laws do, instead of all at once at one income. State tables are priced for a retiree aged 67.
- City income taxes. City pages no longer say that living outside city limits avoids the city’s income tax. Many of these cities tax commuters who work there and many suburbs levy their own tax, so if you choose to live outside city limits the calculator now applies the typical suburban rate for that metro.
- Cost to own a home after a move. The “If you buy” result of the state-to-state calculator now counts the mortgage payment and homeowners insurance on the typical home (20% down), not only its property tax.
- Health insurance by age. Premiums for ages other than 40 in Massachusetts, Utah and Washington, DC now follow each one’s own CMS age curve instead of the federal default, which overstated premiums for older buyers in Massachusetts.
What we are not
We are not a tax preparer, law firm, lender or moving company. Our results are planning estimates. For decisions with legal or tax consequences, confirm with the official state agency or a licensed professional.
How the site is funded
RelocateMath is free to use. We may show advertising to cover costs.
We don't use affiliate links at the moment. If we add any, each will sit in a box labelled “Sponsored” with a note beside it saying we're paid, and the company will be named here.
Advertisers and affiliate partners never influence our calculations, estimates or rankings. No company can pay to change a figure, a ranking or its place in a table.
Contact
Found an error or have a suggestion? Email hello@relocatemath.com with the page and a source, or use our contact page. Confirmed errors are fixed on every affected page and added to the corrections log above.