Research edition: May 2024 wages matched to 2024 regional prices. Review prepared September 11, 2026.
A higher salary can make a move look settled before the important questions have been asked.
What would it cost to live within reach of the job? What would your household have to change? What happens if the position ends and you need another employer nearby?
MyTopMatch’s geographic research offers a concrete reason to slow down the salary comparison. In its matched 2024 software-developer analysis, California’s median annual wage was $4,000 higher than Washington’s. After adjustment for broad regional price levels, the order reversed. [S1]
That does not make California the wrong choice or Washington the right one. It shows how the measure you start with can shape the conclusion you reach.
The useful question is what a particular opportunity would make possible after the move, with its costs and conditions included.
A $4,000 lead that changed after price adjustment
The MyTopMatch study paired May 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics with 2024 Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities. Both inputs refer to the same year. The occupation is software developers, SOC 15-1252. [S1]
| State | Median annual wage, before price adjustment | 2024 all-items regional price index, U.S. = 100 | RPP-adjusted wage equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $170,910 | 110.720 | $154,362 |
| Washington | $166,910 | 107.013 | $155,972 |
Source: MyTopMatch Geographic Opportunity Research, GEO-1.0, finding MTM-GEO-001. These are selected state-level estimates for one occupation, not job offers or a complete salary ranking. Adjusted amounts are rounded national-price-level equivalents, not take-home pay. [S1]
California led on the unadjusted median. Washington’s lower regional price index produced a slightly higher adjusted equivalent, by roughly $1,600. The calculation is a comparison of point estimates; this adaptation does not establish a statistically significant difference between the states. [S1]
The adjustment is transparent:
RPP-adjusted wage = nominal occupational median ÷ (regional price parity / 100).
For California, that is $170,910 ÷ 1.10720 ≈ $154,362. For Washington, it is $166,910 ÷ 1.07013 ≈ $155,972. MyTopMatch applies the same form of spatial adjustment that BEA illustrates for regional income comparisons. [S1, S3]
No employee receives the adjusted figure as an extra payment or deduction. The calculation expresses the wage against a common national price level.
What the price index can tell you
BEA’s Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states and metropolitan areas for a given year. An index of 110 represents a broad price level about 10% above the national level. The all-items measure combines consumption categories, including housing rents. [S2, S3]
This is a comparison across places, not a measure of how much that place’s prices increased during the year. [S3]
It also does not calculate your household’s spending. The MyTopMatch study does not observe your taxes, mortgage or lease, childcare arrangements, commute, or equity compensation. Its adjusted wage is a broad comparison, not disposable income. [S1]
Use it to recognize when a nominal salary comparison needs more investigation. Then replace broad averages with evidence about your actual choices.
The research looks beyond the paycheck
MyTopMatch’s Geographic Opportunity Score combines employment scale, occupational concentration, and pay. The pay component considers both the regional-price-adjusted occupational median and the occupation’s median relative to the all-occupation median in the same state. [S1]
That structure asks a wider question than “Where is the salary highest?” It considers the size and specialization of the occupational market as well.
The study’s primary analysis included 49 of the 51 state and District of Columbia observations. Alaska exceeded the study’s employment-uncertainty threshold; Vermont lacked required inputs. Leaving them unranked does not establish that they are poor places to work. [S1]
Washington, California, and Virginia appeared in the top five in all 500 tested combinations of pillar weights under the primary method. Virginia’s adjusted median was lower than those of the other two states, but its employment scale and concentration supported its composite position. [S1]
Keep the meaning of “all 500” intact. It describes stability within a specified sensitivity test, not a 100% chance of getting hired. A separate scoring specification placed Virginia sixth. The source therefore supports a conditional shortlist rather than a universal winner. [S1]
For a career decision, examine the components separately. A large employment base does not establish a large number of current openings, and it does not show how many employers could use your particular experience. [S1]
Why this remains a 2024 comparison
At the September 11, 2026 review, BLS listed May 2025 as its latest OEWS edition. BEA’s current RPP release covered 2024, with its next release scheduled for December 10, 2026. [S2, S6]
The study preserves a matched 2024 purchasing-power edition and keeps the newer nominal-wage reference separate. This article does not quietly combine 2025 wages with 2024 prices or present the frozen findings as current offers. [S1]
A state is the beginning of the search
The source study recommends moving from state-level results to metropolitan evidence, then to actual offers and household costs. It does not measure neighborhood housing conditions, commute patterns, or employer quality. [S1]
For your own decision, identify the specific office, possible home locations, and required attendance pattern. Ask what housing is genuinely available within the distance you would accept. Check travel at the times you would need to make it.
A useful relocation comparison names the place you could actually live, the job you could actually hold, and the terms you have actually been offered.
Keep geographic boundaries visible when using public data. A state estimate and a metropolitan estimate are different observations; metropolitan areas can cross state lines. BLS documents those boundaries in its geographic estimates. [S4, S5]
Remote work needs its own verification. The MyTopMatch index does not identify remote eligibility or an employer’s salary-location policy. [S1]
Ask the employer which locations are permitted, what office attendance is required, and whether compensation changes with residence or work assignment. Keep an unanswered policy question visible in your comparison. A reassuring conversation is a reason to request the applicable written terms, not to fill in a missing commitment.
An occupational median is not your compensation package
A median is the midpoint of a measured wage distribution. It does not identify the offer available to a person with your experience, specialty, or responsibilities. [S5]
The OEWS wage measure is gross pay under a defined survey concept. It includes base rates and some incentive pay, while excluding benefits and several other compensation elements. BLS also lists stock bonuses and relocation allowances among its exclusions. [S4, S5]
For an actual offer, separate the stated base salary from variable compensation, equity, benefits, and any relocation assistance. Check the conditions and timing of each item. Do not give an uncertain future payment the same status as cash you know will be available for recurring bills.
The comparison should also cover your household. Record any expected change in a partner’s earnings, care arrangements, or other income, and label estimates accordingly. The study does not supply those answers. [S1]
A larger gross salary is one input. The amount available for your goals requires a different calculation.
A fictional move with a real arithmetic lesson
The following amounts are invented assumptions for explanation. They are not city prices, tax estimates, quoted moving charges, or a forecast for any household.
Suppose you are comparing staying in your current location with accepting a higher-paying job elsewhere. For this exercise only, assume the new arrangement would provide $1,200 more spendable cash per month after taxes and payroll deductions.
Now assume these additional monthly costs:
| Monthly change after the move | Assumed amount |
|---|---|
| Additional spendable cash | +$1,200 |
| Additional housing cost | −$1,000 |
| Additional transportation cost | −$300 |
| Additional childcare cost | −$200 |
| Change in cash remaining | −$300 |
Under those assumptions, the move leaves $300 less each month, or $3,600 less over a full twelve months. Add an assumed $6,000 in one-time, nonrecoverable moving expenses, and the first full year leaves $9,600 less than staying, with all other cash flows held unchanged.
The arithmetic does not decide whether the move is worthwhile. The role might have professional or personal value that the example deliberately leaves unpriced. It does show why a higher salary cannot establish a cash-flow improvement by itself.
For your own comparison, use current housing options, documented compensation terms, and appropriate estimates for taxes and deductions. Keep one-time expenses separate from recurring costs. Track refundable deposits as cash you must have available, rather than automatically treating them as permanent expenses.
Do not multiply a salary by a regional price adjustment and then deduct a complete local budget as though the adjusted amount were your paycheck. That mixes a broad purchasing-power comparison with an offer-specific cash-flow model. Use the actual offer for the household calculation.
A more expensive location may still be the stronger choice
The conclusion is not that the cheapest place wins.
A move could be worth a higher housing bill because the particular role gives you work you want to do, useful supervision, or responsibilities aligned with your next step. That is a possibility to investigate, not an outcome established by this study.
Ask what you would learn, which work you would own, and how performance and progression are assessed. Request concrete examples rather than assuming a well-known employer or city guarantees development.
Then ask a second career question: What would your options look like if the first job ended?
The research’s employment and concentration measures can help frame that inquiry, but neither proves that employers are diverse or that suitable vacancies exist. Large occupational employment can be concentrated in a limited set of firms. [S1]
Look for current roles at other employers that match your specialty and level. Assess their actual requirements and locations. A list of companies is a starting point for research, not a count of jobs you could obtain.
The same care applies to a lower-cost location. Attractive expenses do not compensate for an unsuitable job, an unworkable household arrangement, or an assumption about remote work that the employer has not confirmed.
Put your nonnegotiables into the comparison early
The next framework is original practical guidance for this article. It is not part of the Geographic Opportunity Score, and its decision outcomes have not been tested.
Before choosing a destination, prepare a short decision record:
| Decision area | Evidence to gather |
|---|---|
| The actual role | Written duties, reporting relationship, compensation terms, work location, attendance expectations, and important unresolved conditions. |
| The monthly household picture | Expected spendable income and recurring costs for realistic housing and travel choices, with sources and dates beside estimates. |
| The cost of changing locations | Moving quotes, temporary accommodation, overlap costs, and cash needed before reimbursements or deposits are returned. |
| Career options beyond the first job | Relevant employers and current roles, required qualifications, and responsibilities you want to develop. |
| Personal requirements and reversibility | Care needs, support networks, preferred living conditions, dealbreakers, and what would make leaving or returning feasible. |
Keep benefits that you cannot sensibly price visible in words. A support network, a preferred community, or access to an important activity can matter without a fabricated dollar value.
Use the same questions for staying. Your current location should be evaluated on its actual costs and opportunities, rather than treated as a cost-free default.
The objective is a decision you can explain: what you would gain, what you would give up, and which unanswered question could change your conclusion.
Test the assumptions before committing
Start with a small set of realistic possibilities. Read current vacancies. Request the relevant employer terms. Price a few housing options you would genuinely consider, including the travel each would require.
Before spending on a scouting trip, a relocation service, or a major commitment, identify what remains untested and what evidence would resolve it. This article has not tested a provider, quoted a trip, or measured a household’s relocation costs.
Consider one change at a time. What happens if the commute is longer than expected? What if a bonus does not arrive? What if the working arrangement changes within the employer’s stated policy? What if a second household income starts later?
These are planning scenarios, not predictions. Their purpose is to reveal whether the decision depends on every assumption going your way.
Where a choice hinges on tax treatment, contract terms, or another consequential detail, obtain advice appropriate to your circumstances. A national wage table cannot resolve an individual arrangement.
Choose the move that fits the career and the household
MyTopMatch’s Professional Passport page describes a way to organize skills, achievements, career goals, work preferences, qualifications, and dealbreakers. Those are useful categories to clarify before turning a promising state into a relocation plan. [S7]
Begin with the work you can demonstrate and the direction you want to pursue. Add the conditions a location must satisfy. Use the geographic research to narrow the investigation, then evaluate the actual role and the life attached to it.
The highest salary may belong to your best next move. It still has to earn that conclusion.
Explore the Professional Passport.
Explore the Professional Passport: https://mytopmatch.com/professional-passport [S7]
Research and evidence note
This article adapts MyTopMatch’s Geographic Opportunity Research, GEO-1.0, finding MTM-GEO-001. Its frozen primary edition matches May 2024 BLS OEWS with 2024 BEA all-items RPP. Software developers are defined as SOC 15-1252; 49 state/DC observations met the source’s completeness and employment-uncertainty criteria. OEWS measures wage-and-salary employment and excludes the self-employed. [S1, S4]
The source’s weight test used 500 draws, with pillar multipliers sampled from 0.75 to 1.25 and renormalized. Its results are conditional sensitivity findings, not hiring probabilities or confidence levels. The percentile-normalization exception for Virginia is retained. [S1]
Verification: The complete source report and its public research page were reviewed. The two-state price adjustments were recalculated from the report’s displayed inputs. BLS and BEA definitions and release pages were checked September 11, 2026. The full source archives, all composite scores, the 500-draw simulation, and any subsequent data revisions were not independently audited or rerun for this adaptation. The figures remain the study’s frozen 2024 results.
The household example is hypothetical; its arithmetic was checked. The practical framework has UNTESTED outcomes, and a reader’s actual costs and relocation results remain UNKNOWN until investigated. The signed-in Passport workflow was not tested. BLS and BEA have not endorsed MyTopMatch’s index or interpretation. [S1]
Relocation Decision Worksheet
MyTopMatch Career Intelligence | Article 6 | Original planning worksheet
This is a blank decision aid, not a validated assessment, household-cost estimate, tax calculation, or personalized relocation recommendation. Use actual offers and current local evidence. Leave missing inputs marked UNKNOWN, not zero. Keep sensitive financial details out of public posts and unapproved tools.
1. Name the alternatives
Current location / staying: __________________________
Proposed employer, role, office and residence: __________________________
Decision deadline and comparison period: __________________________
2. Confirm the role and work arrangement
| Item | Staying / current arrangement | Proposed move | Source and date | Status / question to resolve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary and start date | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Variable pay terms and payment timing | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Equity and conditions; do not assume cash availability | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Benefits and employee contributions | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Required worksite and attendance | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Permitted remote locations and salary-location terms | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Work scope, manager, development responsibilities | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Relocation assistance and repayment conditions | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
3. Monthly household comparison
Compare the same period and avoid double-counting payroll deductions. RPP-adjusted wages are research equivalents, not cash-flow inputs. Use a separately supported after-tax and after-deduction income estimate for the actual offer. Consult an appropriate professional for consequential tax or contract questions.
| Monthly item | Staying | Moving | Evidence / estimate date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spendable employment income after taxes and deductions | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Other household income expected to continue | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Housing, utilities and related recurring costs | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Transportation, commuting and parking | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Childcare or other dependent-care costs | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Health expenses not already deducted from income | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Debt commitments | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Other recurring spending | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Cash remaining before new saving goals | ________ | ________ | ________ |
Calculation: monthly household cash income minus recurring cash outgoings. Difference: moving result minus staying result. Track certainty and low/high scenarios separately; do not invent missing values.
4. One-time expense and liquidity record
| Item | Amount | One-time cost or recoverable cash requirement? | Expected payment / reimbursement date | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moving quote | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Travel or temporary accommodation | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Housing overlap or setup | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Refundable deposits | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Assistance expected from employer | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Other | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
Do not turn a refundable deposit into a permanent expense without justification. Record when reimbursement is actually available; do not assume it arrives before bills are due.
5. Career options and personal requirements
Relevant alternate employers and current roles: __________________________
Preparation still required for those roles: __________________________
Work or experience this role would help you develop: __________________________
Household requirements and support networks: __________________________
Dealbreakers: __________________________
What would make leaving, returning or changing employers feasible? __________________________
6. Stress-test and decide
Change one assumption at a time: compensation timing, housing cost, commute, work arrangement, or second household income. Record the result without assigning an unsupported probability.
The conclusion most supported by the evidence: __________________________
What the decision depends on: __________________________
The unresolved question that could reverse it: __________________________
Who will verify that question and by when: __________________________
MyTopMatch.com | Make the location fit the career and the household.