Data comes from the Living Wage Institute’s Living Wage Calculator. The 2026 edition was updated February 15, 2026, with underlying data adjusted to December 2025 dollars. Source checked October 6, 2026. These are basic-needs estimates, not live prices or average city spending.

Monthly reference = annual source category / 12, rounded to cents. Monthly total = the sum of eight categories. Annual difference = monthly difference × 12. Percentage = (destination − starting county) / starting county. Rounding can produce a small difference from source annual totals. No percentage is calculated with a zero starting total. Missing sources are not replaced by zero.

The same household scenario applies to both counties. Childcare models assume specific ages; actual costs can differ. Four verified household scenarios are provided. Other household types are not automatically scaled by headcount.

This comparison does not estimate equity, property appreciation, investment returns, or the actual savings a particular household will achieve after moving.

Living wage data sourced from the Living Wage Institute via livingwage.mit.edu. Accessed October 6, 2026.

Methodology and category definitions · Data use and limitations

All values are county-level. Santa Clara does not represent the entire Bay Area; King does not represent the entire Seattle metro. Collin, Dallas, and Tarrant each represent part of DFW. These figures should not be used to rank neighborhood quality.

No. Select counties and a household scenario. The comparison runs in your browser without collecting names, contact details, or personal spending amounts. Source links open external websites.