Pick any two role and city combinations, and see how they stack up side by side.
Free side-by-side salary comparison for any two roles and U.S. cities: median estimate, range, experience bands, and cost-of-living adjustment, with no signup required.
Software Engineer
San Francisco, CA
$178,000
median base salary
$138,000 to $226,000 range
Software Engineer
Austin, TX
$138,000
median base salary
$107,000 to $176,000 range
Head to head
Green highlights the higher value in each row
San FranciscoAustin
$178,000Median$138,000
$138,00025th Pctl$107,000
$226,00075th Pctl$176,000
$142,000Entry$110,000
$187,000Mid$145,000
$231,000Senior$179,000
$276,000Lead$214,000
$217,000Total Comp$169,000
$21,000Equity$17,000
$14,000Bonus$11,000
$4,000Signing$3,000
1.35xCOL Index1.03x
$131,852Adj. Salary$133,981
Verdict
San Francisco pays 29% more base, but Austin has 2% better purchasing power.
Compare cost-of-living adjusted figures, not gross numbers. A higher salary in a more expensive metro can buy less than a lower one somewhere cheaper. Orbyt's comparison tool puts any two role and city combinations side by side, free and with no signup: median, range, experience bands, and a BEA Regional Price Parity adjustment that makes the purchasing-power gap visible.
The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay. The role pages behind each side of a comparison show the published BLS wage for the occupation the role maps to, as a separate benchmark.
Yes. The tool compares any two role and city pairs, so you can weigh a promotion against a relocation in one view: a software engineer in Austin against an engineering manager in Denver, or the same role in two metros. Each side shows the median estimate, the range, and the cost-of-living adjusted value.