Methodology
Every estimate in this product combines a purchasing-power baseline with housing and lifestyle adjustments — calculated at the country level. This page explains how, what it’s built on, and where it falls short.
Estimates are calculated per country, not per city. Reliable, verifiable cost data isn’t available for every city, so rather than show precise-looking city numbers we can’t stand behind, this tool estimates using each country’s national averages and labels every result as an estimate. PPP factors, cost indices and tax brackets are illustrative reference approximations, not a live feed from official statistical agencies — see Limitations before using this to make a decision.
Data architecture
- Economic PPP baseline
- A country-level purchasing-power conversion factor, modeled on the structure of World Bank ICP / household consumption PPP data.
- Housing & living cost index
- A relative cost index (New York = 100) covering housing and non-housing living costs at the national level, used for the optional cost-of-living breakdown.
- Lifestyle assumption
- This version calculates against a Standard lifestyle tier by default — a balanced, typical urban spending profile. Essential, Comfortable and Premium tiers exist in the underlying model but aren't yet exposed as a control.
- Tax calculation
- Simplified national income-tax brackets for a single filer, with no state/local tax, credits or deductions modeled.
- Exchange rates
- A reference FX rate per currency, shown only to illustrate the difference between currency conversion and purchasing-power equivalence.
How a result is calculated
- Convert your current income into international purchasing-power terms using your origin country’s PPP factor.
- Convert that into a destination-country PPP-equivalent nominal salary — the PPP baseline.
- Adjust for the Standard lifestyle tier’s effect on the housing share of the basket.
- Adjust for the Standard lifestyle tier’s effect on the discretionary share of the basket.
- Sum the baseline and adjustments to produce your target salary.
Precision
Numbers are rounded to a sensible precision for a financial decision (for example, the nearest 100 or 1,000 depending on magnitude) rather than shown with false decimal precision.
Privacy
Every calculation runs in your browser. No account is required to use the salary comparison or offer evaluation tools, and no salary information is sent to or stored on a server by this build.
Limitations
- Estimates are calculated per country, not per city — actual costs can vary significantly between cities within the same country.
- Reference data is illustrative and does not reflect a live statistical or tax-authority feed.
- Tax estimates ignore state/local tax, deductions, credits and filing status — they are not tax advice.
- The product does not account for visa costs, relocation logistics, or employer-specific benefits beyond what you enter manually.