Tax and rent decide what’s left at the end of the month, not the offer letter. Run any two cities in four seconds — no account — then let the plan narrow the country down to the ones that clear your bar.
Try another pair, or change anything below
Where you are
6% state income tax
Where you're thinking
No state income tax
New York
$7,333 gross
Left each month
$2,018
Nashville
$5,667 gross
Left each month
$3,035
On these numbers
+$1,018a month
Roughly $12,210a year more, assuming your habits don’t change. To come out level in Nashville at $1,650 rent, the salary works out to about $53,000.
Track jobs in Nashville on your boardAn estimate, not advice. Single filer, standard deduction, 2026federal brackets and 7.65% payroll; state rates are approximate effective rates. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents for a one-bedroom (FY2026) — the 40th percentile of gross rent, utilities included — and pay is scaled by each metro’s all-occupations mean wage from the BLS (OEWS, May 2025). Both are measured for the whole metro, not your neighbourhood or your job. Your actual position depends on your filing status, deductions, benefits and local taxes. Check real listings and a tax professional before you decide anything.
How it works
New York$7,333 gross
Left each month
$2,018
Nashville$5,667 gross
Left each month
$3,035
On these numbers
+$1,018a month
On a salary $20,000 lower. That’s the whole point.
They pick the place first. Then they hope a job turns up, and they find out about the state tax in April.
It is a lovely way to spend two years and a lot of money finding out you were right the first time, or wrong in an expensive way.
Do it backwards. Numbers first. Job second. City last.
That order is unglamorous and it is the whole trick. The calculator answers one question. The plan answers the rest.
Not everyone who is vaguely restless. You, specifically, if any of these is true today:
What the plan adds
The calculator is free. The plan is $29, one time, per plan. Not a subscription — there is nothing to cancel.
Three to five metros that clear your bar, ranked, each with its catch spelled out.
Most people undercount their own package by 15%. This counts all of it.
What leaving costs in dollars and weeks, before the first box gets taped.
Three ways to fund a move. All three work. Doing it with none of them is what hurts.
A checklist sequenced so nothing depends on a step you haven't done yet.
The things to write on an index card and stick to the fridge.
The part that takes months
Not by salary. Boston pays the most on that list and leaves you the least — which you cannot see until both are sitting on the same page.
Fair questions
Then eleven cards built around your salary, your rent, and the things you said you won’t give up.
$29, one time, per plan. Paid at the end, never before.