How to Figure Out the Salary You Need When Moving to Another State
A bigger number on a job offer doesn't always mean more money. What matters is what's left after taxes and what that money buys where you live. Here is the method we use, which you can do by hand or with our relocation calculator.
Step 1: Compare take-home pay, not salary
Start with what actually lands in your bank account. Take-home pay is your salary minus:
- Federal income tax, which is the same everywhere for the same income and filing status (unless you itemize; see below).
- Social Security and Medicare (7.65% for most employees), also the same in every state.
- State income tax, which ranges from zero in nine states to over 10% at the top in a few.
- State payroll programs, such as disability insurance or paid family leave, which some states deduct from wages.
With the standard deduction, federal taxes don't change when you move, so the difference comes almost entirely from state taxes. At $100,000, a single filer keeps about $72,825 in California and $79,180 in Texas, a gap of $6,355 a year.
Those figures use the federal standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer in 2026), as our calculator does unless you tick its “I itemize deductions” box. If you itemize instead, which is common for higher earners and for homeowners with a mortgage in high-tax states, you can deduct state and local taxes on your federal return, up to $40,400 in 2026 (less once income passes $505,000; see the IRS notice). Part of the state tax then comes back as a lower federal bill, so the take-home gap between a high-tax and a low-tax state is smaller than the standard comparison shows.
Step 2: Adjust for local prices
The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities (RPPs), which measure how expensive each state is compared with the national average of 100. They cover goods, rent and utilities, and other services. California's overall RPP is 110.7, while Texas's is 97.1.
To compare real buying power, divide take-home pay by the RPP of each state:
Using the numbers above, real buying power changes by 24.0% when moving from California to Texas on the same salary.
Step 3: Find the "equal salary"
The most useful number for negotiating is the salary in the new state that gives you the same real take-home pay you have today. Because tax brackets are progressive, you can't just multiply by a ratio; you have to test salaries until the after-tax, price-adjusted income matches. Our calculator does this automatically. For a $100,000 salary in California, the equal salary in Texas is about $78,200.
It works the other way too. Someone earning $80,000 in Ohio would need roughly $93,700 in Washington to keep the same lifestyle, even though Washington has no wage income tax, because prices there are 15.3% higher.
Step 4: Look at housing separately
RPPs are averages. Housing is where your personal situation matters most:
- Renters should compare median rent (the Census Bureau publishes it by state and city) and check listings in the neighborhoods they'd actually live in.
- Buyers should compare home prices, property tax and homeowners insurance. A state with no income tax can have high property tax. See our income needed to buy a house pages.
Step 5: Add one-time costs
A long-distance move can cost from a few hundred dollars (a truck for a studio) to well over $10,000 (full-service movers for a large home across the country). Add deposits, new vehicle registration and title fees, and the cost of any overlap in rent. Spread these over the first year or two to see when the move pays for itself. Our moving cost calculator gives a range by distance and home size.
Step 6: Don't forget the non-salary items
- Retirement plans: if you're near retirement, check how the new state taxes Social Security, pensions and 401(k) withdrawals. See retirement taxes by state.
- Commuting across a state line: living in one state and working in another can mean two tax returns. See live in one state, work in another.
- Remote work: a remote job may keep your old salary band, which makes a move to a cheaper state especially valuable.
A quick checklist for comparing an offer
- Calculate take-home pay in both states.
- Adjust both by the state's price level.
- Find the equal salary and compare it with the offer.
- Check rent or home costs where you'd actually live.
- Add one-time moving costs and see how long it takes to break even.