The Total Cost of Living line in the Two City Comparison table shows the relationship between the consumer expenses in the Base City and in the Destination City. The Total Cost of Living amount for the Base City may be adjusted to match the user-specified Earnings Level or may exceed the earnings level if, for instance, the home size is too large for earnings.
ERI's default is for the Total Cost of Living to be set equal to the Annual Earnings. This results in either a negative or positive figure in the Miscellaneous field that “forces” total expenditures to Annual Earnings. This field can be toggled on/off (the default is on). To get ERI’s research estimate of Miscellaneous expenditures for a given Annual Earnings level, toggle the key off.
To Change the Total Cost of Living Amount for the Base City
In the Two City Comparison, select or deselect Total Cost = Earnings in the Options panel.
See Two City Comparison - Background for more information.