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In some cases, the cost-of-living between the base and destination cities will be reversed in an ownership situation.  For this reason, please refer to the Relocation Assessor for detailed cost-of-living analyses.  While the Relocation Assessor allows for both rental and home ownership comparisons, the cost-of-living data available from the Geographic Assessor is rental-only.

 

Defining COL Benchmarks

In order to set wage and salary levels, please review salary data for the city "worked in" using the Geographic Assessor.  However, please review cost-of-living data for areas "lived in" (usually the surrounding suburbs, outside of downtown city limits) using the Relocation Assessor.  By doing this, you will avoid the pitfalls associated with trying to award COLAs, especially those for high-cost cities.

 

High-Cost Example

Housing in New York-Manhattan is much more expensive than it is in surrounding New York or New Jersey suburbs.  Are your Manhattan employees actually living in Manhattan, or should you be reviewing the more reasonably priced suburbs in New York and New Jersey to define a "New York "City" area COL benchmark?