🌍 Finance

Purchasing Power / PPP Salary Calculator 2026

Find out what your salary is really worth in another country. Compare purchasing power across US, UK, Canada, Australia and major cities worldwide using 2026 cost-of-living indices.

Annual Salary (in home city's currency)

Home City

Target City

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PPP-Equivalent Salary

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Difference

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Home City Cost Index

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Target City Cost Index

How the PPP Salary Converter Works

Cost-of-living index: Each city has a composite index (New York = 100) based on housing, groceries, transport, utilities, and healthcare costs, sourced from OECD PPP tables and Numbeo 2026 data.
PPP conversion: PPP Salary = Your Salary × (Target Index / Home Index). This shows the local-currency salary needed to maintain the same purchasing power at your destination.
Local currency: Output is in the target city's native currency — GBP for UK, CAD for Canada, AUD for Australia, USD for the US. No FX conversion is applied, as PPP measures purchasing power, not exchange rates.

Understanding Purchasing Power Parity for Salaries

When comparing salaries across countries or cities, nominal figures can be deeply misleading. A software engineer earning $120K in San Francisco and $85K in Austin may be materially better off in Austin — once housing, taxes, and everyday costs are factored in. Purchasing power parity (PPP) converts salaries to a common basis so you can make an honest comparison.

Why Cost-of-Living Adjustments Matter

The biggest driver of PPP differences is typically housing. New York, San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Vancouver all have acute housing supply constraints that inflate costs well above the national average. Cities like Austin, Dallas, Phoenix (US), Manchester, Birmingham (UK), Calgary, Edmonton (CA), and Brisbane, Adelaide (AU) offer significantly lower costs — particularly for rent — which makes a $70K salary in these cities comparable to a $100K+ salary in the high-cost metros.

PPP vs Exchange Rates for Expats

Exchange rates reflect the relative supply and demand of currencies; PPP reflects how far a currency actually goes when buying goods and services locally. For international job offers and relocation planning, PPP is the relevant measure — not spot FX. A job offering £80,000 in London may or may not compare favorably to $100K in New York: it depends on whether the PPP-adjusted £80K is more or less than the PPP-adjusted $100K.

For tax-adjusted take-home pay in each country, see our Canadian tax calculator, UK salary calculator, and Australian income tax calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is purchasing power parity (PPP)?

Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an economic concept that compares the relative value of currencies by measuring what a standard basket of goods costs in each country. A PPP-adjusted salary tells you how much you would need to earn in a target country to maintain the same standard of living as your current salary at home.

How does the PPP salary converter work?

The converter uses Big Mac Index and OECD PPP data to create a cost-of-living index for each city relative to New York (baseline = 100). Your salary is divided by your home city's index and multiplied by the target city's index, giving you the equivalent purchasing-power salary in the target city's local currency.

Is a $100K salary in New York equivalent to $100K in Austin?

No. Due to cost-of-living differences, $100K in New York buys significantly less than $100K in Austin, Texas. The PPP-equivalent salary shows you need around $68K–$72K in Austin to maintain the same purchasing power as $100K in New York, due to lower rents, taxes, and general costs.

How does a UK salary compare to a US salary?

The UK generally has lower salaries in nominal terms than the US, but also lower costs in some categories (NHS healthcare, cheaper supermarkets). A rough rule: multiply a London salary by ~1.25 to compare purchasing power against New York. However, London's high housing costs offset some of this advantage.

What currencies are used in the output?

The tool shows the PPP-equivalent salary in the target city's local currency — USD for US cities, GBP for UK cities, CAD for Canadian cities, and AUD for Australian cities. Nominal FX rates are not applied — this is a purchasing power comparison, not a currency exchange.

How often is the PPP data updated?

The cost-of-living indices used in this tool are estimated for 2026 based on OECD PPP data, Numbeo city cost surveys, and IMF world economic outlook data. Indices are reviewed annually. Rapid inflation events (e.g. energy shocks, housing spikes) may mean the live cost diverges from the index faster than annual updates.