Imagine you have one job offer in a relatively low COL tech city (e.g., Austin, Denver) and another one in a high COL city (e.g., San Francisco, NYC). All else being equal, how much greater would the TC have to be in the high COL location for you to consider it to be the stronger offer?
It's not about "net profit margin" when it comes to your TC - it's about absolute dollar amount after all taxes and expenses. You want to maximize the cash flow into your bank.
Also depends if the high COL has state income tax compares to the low COL
You can't ignore the lifestyle component here. What do you do for fun? How much space do you need? Etc.
🌲50
That’s strange people say 35-50%. A new big house with great schools in low COL area may cost 400k, will be not less than 1500k in high COL area. 300%
Even if your mortage payment is 4k/month higher, that's only an extra 48k/year needed. Which for many here will translate to 35-50% percent after taxes, not 300%.
At least enough to cover the COL difference. Beyond that depends on how much i like the HCOL location over the LCOL