Where do I get the index numbers?

Any consistent published source works, since only the ratio matters. Using two numbers from different sources or years is the one thing that breaks it.

Salary & HRcareer

Cost of Living Adjustment Calculator

What a salary needs to be in a more or less expensive city to leave you equally well off, and whether the offer clears it. Index numbers are relative, so only the ratio matters.

Also called: city comparison salary, relocation salary calculator.

Salary you would need

₹19,50,000

₹19,50,000 to live equivalently, against the 18,00,000 offered. That leaves you behind by ₹1,50,000 a year in real terms.

Difference against the offer

₹1,50,000

Cost of living change

30%

The offer in your current cost terms

₹13,84,615

Real change in purchasing power

-7.69%

How the move lands

behind

How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for India change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

Cost of living indices are relative measures with an arbitrary base, so the level means nothing and the ratio means everything. Multiplying your salary by the ratio of the two indices gives the figure that buys the same basket. Comparing that to an actual offer converts a hard decision into a subtraction, though it prices only the basket the index covers.

equivalent salary = current salary * target index / current index

I: Cost of living index (index)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

moving somewhere thirty percent dearer

Current salary: ₹15,00,000
Cost of living index where you are: 100
Index where you are moving: 130
Salary offered there: ₹18,00,000

Salary you would need₹19,50,000

15,00,000 * 1.3, so the 18,00,000 offer falls short

Open this example

an identical index needs no change

Current salary: ₹15,00,000
Cost of living index where you are: 100
Index where you are moving: 100
Salary offered there: ₹15,00,000

Salary you would need₹15,00,000

boundary

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

The index reflects your own spending pattern, which it rarely does exactly.

What it deliberately does not model

Indices weight housing heavily. If your housing situation differs from the average, the answer moves a lot.
Tax differences between locations are separate and often larger than the cost difference.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · India · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Where do I get the index numbers?: Any consistent published source works, since only the ratio matters. Using two numbers from different sources or years is the one thing that breaks it.