<prompt> Human: I am thinking about moving from small town USA to big city Western Europe. How do I gauge change in cost-of-living? The cost-of-living calculators for international comparisons on the net seem to be based on user-contributed data -- very shaky. Plus, even with a good estimate, we are talking about net income. Somehow I would need to convert this to gross, taking into account the complexities of nation-specific deductions. I would guess a lot of people make such moves from US to Europe -- how do they make their calculations?  <response>: Ive moved about a lot over my career, and Ive got some generic advice you might find useful. You need to be more specific than large city in western EU. In general, your cost of living in EU will be much MUCH higher due to the fact that food is not subsidised ie: corn. However your insurancetransportmedical costs will go down. However this depends on which country youre going to. Another thing to keep in mind - salaries are not the same. Not even close. Theyre more modest here. Id recommend trying to compare it vs the local GDP of the country and add the standard 10 to 20 capital city tax into the equitation. Another things - try to not spend more than 13 of your income on housing. 