1. Compare actual written offers, not only occupational medians
Begin with the role, level, work schedule, base pay, bonus eligibility, equity or commission terms, and the dates on your actual offers. Use the occupation directory to check the published metro wage distribution, including 25th and 75th percentiles. These BLS estimates describe employed workers in a broad occupation category, not the salary an employer will offer you.
When an occupation–metro wage cell is suppressed, keep it unavailable. The interactive worksheet can instead use a salary amount you enter yourself; it will not invent the missing official figure.
2. Separate regional price levels from monthly housing payments
BEA regional price parity is an overall price index relative to the U.S. price level (100). It is useful for broad purchasing-power context. The Census ACS median gross rent is an estimate for renters across a metropolitan statistical area, covering different households, unit sizes and neighborhoods. Gross rent includes contract rent plus estimated monthly utilities and fuels, so account for utilities only once in your personal budget.
Do not subtract ACS rent from the BEA-price-adjusted wage: the all-items price basket already incorporates housing services. Use an actual apartment quote in the relocation worksheet, where gross salary and explicit listed expenses form a separate first-year calculation. It is not an after-tax or full-budget forecast.
3. Consider payroll and benefits outside the comparison
Write down the employer-sponsored medical premiums, retirement match and vesting, paid time off, bonuses and equity risk, work equipment, travel requirements and expected hours. Examine federal and applicable state/local tax rules for your personal situation separately. None of those factors is estimated by this public-data engine. A larger gross offer can still have materially different practical value depending on personal circumstances.
4. Price the actual move and daily commute
Request housing quotes for the neighborhoods you would genuinely consider. Budget for deposits, moving and travel costs, vehicle ownership or transit, utilities, childcare, and one-time transition expenses. The ACS 45+ minute commute share measures the proportion of non-home commuters who travel that long; it does not promise your own door-to-door commute time. Your home and work addresses matter much more.
Review each metro profile for geography details: BLS wage areas and ACS housing estimates cover entire metro areas, not merely their named city limits. We flag ACS rent medians with high relative margin of error, but uncertainty still exists when no warning is shown.
5. Run two explicit scenarios and write down uncertainties
Open the side-by-side dashboard, choose an occupation and two different metros, and note which published indicators favor each location. There is no all-purpose city score. Next, enter your own annual gross offers, expected rent, non-housing monthly expenses and one-time moving costs. If you know your annual take-home amounts from payroll, you may enter those too; the worksheet does not estimate taxes or deductions. It shows the gross-pay calculation and the optional user-entered take-home calculation separately and resets all personal fields if occupation or cities change.
Do not count rent twice in other expenses. If an expense is missing, zero means no amount entered, not zero actual cost. Test different rent and moving scenarios while calculating taxes and full household budgets separately. Neither result is disposable income or individualized advice.
Evidence, dates and use of the guide
Salary benchmarks: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Overall metropolitan price levels: BEA 2024 regional price parities. Median gross rent, median household income and commute context: ACS 2020–2024 five-year estimates. These are different survey populations and vintages; none is a personalized projection.
For formulas, suppressed cells, uncertainty, geographic matching and limitations, read the full methodology. Our content is independent of the data-providing agencies and is educational research, not employment, housing, tax or financial advice.
Worked example: the bigger offer may leave less room for other costs
Imagine two hypothetical written job offers: Metro A offers $105,000 gross salary with $2,200 monthly gross rent, $900 other monthly expenses and $3,000 one-time moving costs. Metro B offers $117,000 gross salary with $2,950 monthly gross rent, $1,100 other monthly expenses and $7,500 one-time moving costs. These amounts are illustrative and are not published BLS, BEA or Census figures.
Using the worksheet's limited first-year formula, A produces $64,800 ($105,000 − 12 × $3,100 − $3,000), while B produces $60,900 ($117,000 − 12 × $4,050 − $7,500). B has a $12,000 larger gross salary but a $3,900 lower first-year remainder after only the listed costs. Neither figure is take-home pay or expected savings: taxes, payroll deductions, debt payments and omitted expenses could alter the decision.
Change the assumptions and the result can change. For instance, a smaller moving budget, another household member's income or a different apartment could make B more attractive. This is why a reusable scenario is more valuable than declaring one city universally better.
Questions to ask before signing an offer or lease
- Does the written compensation match the same job level, hours and responsibilities in both places?
- Will your household keep health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits at comparable costs?
- Are the housing quotes for units and neighborhoods you would actually choose, and what utilities do they include?
- Have you budgeted for deposits, storage, temporary housing, vehicle registration and possible income gaps during the move?
- If the job is remote or hybrid, could your employer change pay, travel expectations or office attendance because of your new address?
- Have you checked professional credentials, school or childcare arrangements and the commute using the actual home and work locations?
Practical rule: label every worksheet amount as an actual written quote, a survey benchmark or your own assumption. That prevents a public median from looking like a confirmed personal cost.
Common questions about the relocation worksheet
Should I use an ACS rent figure or a real apartment quote?
Use a verified current quote for an actual move. The ACS gross-rent median is useful for broad metro comparison, but it describes an earlier survey period, various housing types and renter households—not available units.
Can I subtract rent from the BEA-adjusted salary?
No. The adjusted salary already uses an all-items regional price index that represents housing services. Use the separate worksheet based on the unadjusted gross offer when you want to subtract specific assumed expenses.
Does a large projected number of occupational openings make an offer safer?
Not necessarily. BLS occupational projections are national and include replacement needs; they do not establish employer stability, local vacancies or whether a particular offer is secure.
Where do my salary and expense entries go?
The worksheet calculates these amounts in your browser. Personal entries are excluded from its shareable comparison links and locally saved comparison selections. Review the privacy explanation before entering information.