What is your salary worth somewhere else?
Prices differ enough between states that the same paycheck can mean very different standards of living. This converts a salary between two places using the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parities — then, if you add your occupation, shows what that job actually pays in each, which is usually the more useful answer.
To live the same way in Texas, you would need
$105,192
$120,000 in California (price level 110.7) has the same purchasing power as $105,192 in Texas (price level 97.1), where 100 is the national average.
A general cost-of-living conversion assumes your pay moves with local prices. It usually doesn't — pick your job to see what it actually pays in each place.
Why two answers can disagree
A pure cost-of-living conversion assumes your pay scales with local prices. Real wages don't behave that way: some occupations are paid roughly the same everywhere, so moving somewhere cheaper is a real raise, while others are bid up in expensive markets by more than prices differ. When the nominal and price-adjusted comparisons point in opposite directions, that gap is the whole point — and it is the part a salary calculator that ignores your occupation gets wrong. Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Price parities: BEA, 2024.