See the real purchasing power for 800+ jobs across all 50 US states. Salaries adjusted using BEA Regional Price Parities to compare apples-to-apples.
Select a state to explore salaries adjusted for regional price differences. Each state shows its Regional Price Parity (RPP) and sample jobs with COL-adjusted figures.
Cost-of-living adjusted salary shows the real purchasing power of your income. A nominal salary is adjusted using BEA Regional Price Parities to reflect differences in prices across states. A $100K salary in an expensive state may have less purchasing power than the same nominal amount in a lower-cost state.
Regional Price Parities (RPP) are indexes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that measure price differences across regions. The national average RPP = 100. States with RPP > 100 are more expensive; states with RPP < 100 are cheaper. For example, Hawaii has an RPP ~115 (15% more expensive), while Mississippi has ~85 (15% cheaper).
Mississippi typically has one of the lowest costs of living in the US, with an RPP around 85. Other low-cost states include Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and South Dakota. Your paycheck stretches further in these states.
Hawaii is by far the most expensive state in the US, with an RPP around 115-120. Massachusetts, California, and New York also rank among the highest. A $100K salary in Hawaii has the purchasing power of roughly $85K nationally.
Both matter! Use after-tax salaries to understand take-home pay after taxes. Use cost-of-living adjustments to compare real purchasing power. Ideally, consider both together: what's your net pay, and how far does it go in your state? See our after-tax hub for tax-adjusted data.