Los Angeles vs Phoenix: What Salary Is Equivalent?
Phoenix has a considerably lower cost of living than Los Angeles — calculate the equivalent Phoenix salary for your LA income.
How to use this tool
- Enter your current annual salary.
- Enter the cost-of-living index for your current city.
- Enter the cost-of-living index for the city you're considering.
- Read the equivalent salary, the dollar difference, and the percentage change in costs.
A job offer in Phoenix may seem lower, but the cost of living difference could make it comparable to your LA salary.
Frequently asked questions
- How does the comparison work?
- It scales your salary by the ratio of the two cities' cost-of-living indices. If the new city's index is 20% higher, you would need a 20% higher salary to maintain the same standard of living.
- Where do cost-of-living indices come from?
- Several sources publish them, weighting housing, groceries, transport, utilities and more against a baseline of 100. Use one consistent source so both cities are measured on the same scale.
- Does this include taxes?
- Basic cost-of-living indices usually exclude income taxes, which vary widely by state and city. For a fuller comparison, also compare after-tax take-home pay in each location.
- Why might my personal result differ?
- Indices reflect an average household's spending. If your mix differs — for example you rent in a pricey housing market — your real difference can be larger or smaller than the index suggests.