Methodology

Dataset review recorded October 4, 2026 · official files retrieved October 4, 2026

The site retains BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 rent benchmarks. A recent source check does not make these current prices. Your salary, lease and mover quote stay separate from the historical benchmarks in the budget summary.

Primary data sources

BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP)

Regional Price Parities are published annually by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) as part of the Local Area Personal Income and Employment data release. The MARPP dataset covers all metropolitan statistical areas and states.

• Reference level: U.S. average = 100 within each data year; this is not an inflation base year
• Coverage year used: 2024 — all 67 cost records were matched by explicit BEA and HUD area codes. Historical source notices remain in the cost-of-living change log.
• Components extracted: Overall RPP, housing RPP, goods RPP, other services RPP
• Dated official source: BEA February 19, 2026 release: MARPP 2024 metropolitan-area RPP

HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)

Fair Market Rents are published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FMRs represent the 40th percentile of gross rents for standard quality housing units recently occupied by movers in the local area.

• Bedroom count used: 2-bedroom; this does not assume your household needs a 2-bedroom home
• Coverage year used: FY2027, published September 1, 2026 with a scheduled effective date of October 1, subject to area reevaluation requests. All 67 rent areas were matched to the official county workbook. Earlier notices remain in the cost-of-living change log as history.
• Dated official source: HUD FY2027 county workbook, scheduled effective October 1, 2026
• Meaning: Historical gross rent includes rent and tenant-paid utilities covered by HUD's definition. It is not a current listing, personal lease or median rent. HUD publishes 50th-percentile (median) estimates separately.

Equivalent-salary formula

The equivalent salary formula converts a salary in one metro to its purchasing-power equivalent in another:

Equivalent salary = current salary x (destination RPP / origin RPP)

Example: $100,000 in a city with RPP 100 moving to a city with RPP 125: $100,000 x (125/100) = a $125,000 before-tax RPP salary illustration.

This formula captures the overall price level difference but does not account for state income tax differences or individual spending patterns that deviate from the national average basket. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FMR does not enter this calculation, and actual rent must not be added to the salary result as though it were a missing cost.

Verification process (DATA-GATE)

Every metro entry in our database has a verification status:

• verified: true — the existing record carries a historical source-review flag, source citation and recorded review date. This flag does not mean current prices or a new all-city geographic mapping audit.
• verified: false — The entry is a knowledge estimate. These pages are marked noindex and excluded from our sitemap until source-verified.

Historical coverage: 67 of 67 records carry the existing source-review flag. Existing route and indexing rules remain in force.

Selected routes checked September 14, 2026

The stored RPP components and 2-bedroom FMR amounts for San Francisco, New York and Austin match the dated official tables linked above. The names below identify those rows. BEA metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and HUD metro FMR areas (HMFAs) can have different boundaries. All 67 records now carry BEA and HUD area codes, titles and HUD county coverage. Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami/Fort Lauderdale share BEA MSAs but have different HUD rent areas. A rent-area benchmark is not a city median or a live lease quote.

• BEA: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ (Metropolitan Statistical Area). HUD: New York, NY HUD Metro FMR Area — Bronx County, Kings County, New York County, Putnam County, Queens County, Richmond County, Rockland County, Westchester County.
• BEA: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (Metropolitan Statistical Area). HUD: San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area — Marin County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County.
• BEA: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX (Metropolitan Statistical Area). HUD: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA — Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Hays County, Travis County, Williamson County.

Limitations

• RPP data has a 1-2 year publication lag. Rapidly changing markets may not reflect current conditions.
• RPP covers the overall metro MSA. Neighborhoods within a metro can vary significantly.
• The equivalent-salary formula does not account for state/local income tax differences.
• HUD FMR represents the 40th percentile rent — actual rents in specific neighborhoods may be higher or lower.
• Moving-cost ranges are illustrative model outputs, not measured national averages or quotes. The model uses home-size bases of $1,400/$2,200/$3,200/$4,400, distance factors of 1/1.8/2/2.7, and season factors of 1/1.25. Its lower and upper bounds are 85% and 125% of that product, rounded to $50. These are planning assumptions without a validated market-price source.
• Budget-summary subtotals include only the user-entered items identified beside them. Unknowns stay unknown. Expected reimbursements and deposit returns are pending receipts, not money already available.

Partners and affiliate relationships

ReloMath may earn referral fees from partner services (moving companies, renters insurance providers). These relationships are clearly disclosed on every page where a partner link appears. No partner pays to influence our data, rankings, or editorial content.

Current partner relationships: Saily (prepaid travel eSIM, via the Affise affiliate network) is our one active advertising partner, live since June 29, 2026. If you buy an eSIM plan through a Saily link on this site we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — the same purchase-based disclosure shown on every card where the link appears. All other CTAs on the site remain neutral, non-paid information links (monetized: false) until a live affiliate agreement for that category is established.