How to Calculate the Cost of Living Difference
- 1). Find the city and state for the place you would like to move to. In this example, you are looking up the cost of living difference from Dallas, TX to New York, NY. You can choose any two major cities in the country.
- 2). Look up the cost of living index for the city you are moving from. Look up the cost of living index number for the city you are moving to. In this example, Dallas had a cost of living index of 92 and New York City has a cost of living index number of 400 in May of 2010.
- 3). Calculate the cost of living difference. Since you are looking at index numbers, the cost of living difference is provided in percentage terms and is determined by subtracting the index for the city from which you are moving from the index of the city to where you are moving. Subtract 92 from 300 to get 308. Divide 308 by 92 and multiply the result by 100. You should get 334.78. It is 335 percent more costly to live in New York than in Dallas.
