The Salary Reality Check answers one question: is this offer actually good, accounting for where you live, what you'll pay in taxes, and what other people in your field actually earn? This page documents exactly how those calculations work.
We use Numbeo's Cost of Living Plus Rent Index, which combines the cost of consumer goods and local housing. New York City serves as the index baseline (2.00). Every other city has an index relative to NYC.
To calculate real purchasing power, we use this formula:
This adjustment answers a specific question: if you moved to the work city, what would your salary be worth in terms of your home city's purchasing power? It's directional — individual spending patterns vary — but it's a reliable order-of-magnitude guide for relocation and remote work decisions.
We calculate estimated monthly take-home using three tax components:
We apply 2024 IRS tax brackets using the standard deduction for a single filer ($14,600 in 2024). The brackets are applied progressively — only income within each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate:
We apply an approximate effective state income tax rate for the work city's state. Rates are sourced from state revenue department publications for 2024. States with no income tax (Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska) are assigned 0%.
Limitation: This estimate assumes a single filer taking the standard deduction with no pre-tax deductions. Your actual take-home will typically be higher if you contribute to a 401(k), HSA, or pay health insurance premiums pre-tax. It does not account for local city income taxes (e.g., New York City's additional local tax) or the Additional Medicare Tax for high earners.
We establish a market benchmark for your role using two primary sources: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024) for the national median, and Levels.fyi for technology roles where BLS data understates compensation at large tech companies.
The national median is then adjusted for two factors:
The percentile is then assigned by comparing your offer to the adjusted market benchmark using ranges calibrated to the normal distribution of salaries around the median.
| Data | Source | Vintage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of Living Index | Numbeo Cost of Living Plus Rent Index | 2025 | Updated continuously. NYC = 2.00 baseline. |
| Salary medians | BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | May 2024 | ~1.1M US business establishments surveyed. |
| Tech salary data | Levels.fyi | 2024 | Self-reported total compensation at tech companies. |
| Federal tax brackets | IRS Revenue Procedure 2023-34 | 2024 | Standard deduction: $14,600 single filer. |
| State income tax rates | State revenue department publications | 2024 | Effective rates; may differ from marginal rates. |
| FICA rates | IRS Publication 15 | 2024 | SS wage base: $168,600. |
Cost of living data is refreshed from Numbeo annually (Q1 each year). Salary benchmarks are updated when BLS releases its annual OES data, typically in March–April. Tax rates are updated when IRS publishes inflation adjustments, typically in November for the following year. All data vintages are noted on the tool page.
Enter any salary offer to see your real purchasing power, take-home pay, and market percentile.
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