Tools

Home·Tools

Six interactive tools over the full dataset of 5,399 tracked US cities. No signup, no email capture, no upsell — they all run client-side on a static site.

Decision engine

Find your match →

5 questions — budget, size, region, growth, priority — and we rank every US city by fit. 'Why matched' chips show what we used. The fastest path from 'I'm thinking about moving' to a concrete shortlist.

Best for: Open-ended exploration
Mortgage math

Affordability calculator →

Income in, max home price out — using real binary-search mortgage math (P&I + taxes + insurance + HOA). Then we show every US city you can buy in, ranked by momentum.

Best for: Buyers with a target income
Salary equivalence

Cost-of-living converter →

Pick your current city, pick a target city, optionally enter income. Get equivalent purchasing power instantly. Uses median home values as the dominant cost-of-living signal.

Best for: Geo-arbitrage / relocation comparisons
Side-by-side

Compare cities →

Up to 3 cities at once: home values, growth rates, population, momentum, rent. Best metric per row is highlighted green, worst red. URL hash is shareable.

Best for: Final shortlist
Power user

Filter explorer →

Filter every tracked US city by state, population, home value, and momentum. Sort by any metric. The way to scan the full dataset.

Best for: Browsing without a hypothesis
Portfolio tracking

Watchlist →

Save cities from any profile (★ Save button). View aggregated stats, overlay chart, gainers/losers across your saved set. localStorage — no signup.

Best for: Tracking shortlists over time
Rental math

Investor ROI calculator →

Pick a target city, set down payment / rate / rent / vacancy / management. Get cap rate, cash-on-cash, monthly cash flow, DSCR, and a verdict on whether the deal pencils.

Best for: Buy-and-hold investors
Retirement

Retirement income projection →

Annual income, Social Security, and home equity in. Get the list of US cities that fit your retirement budget, plus an optional feasibility check on any target city.

Best for: Retirees + pre-retirees
Lender math

Mortgage payment calculator →

Total monthly payment (P&I + property tax + insurance + PMI + HOA), plus total interest paid over the life of the loan.

Best for: Buyers comparing scenarios
Refi math

Mortgage refinance calculator →

Current rate vs new rate → monthly savings, break-even months, verdict (Refi / Consider / Marginal / Don't). Handles term changes and closing costs.

Best for: Existing homeowners
Tax math

Property tax by state →

Enter home price and pick a state. See annual property tax + full 50-state ranking. Real Tax Foundation effective rates.

Best for: Anyone moving across states
Upfront math

Closing cost estimator →

Estimated total closing costs by state and home price. Breakdown by title, lender, appraisal, escrow, transfer tax.

Best for: Budgeting upfront for a purchase
Savings math

Down payment savings calculator →

How long until you hit your down-payment target? Set monthly savings + APY and get years-to-goal with interest earned.

Best for: First-time buyers saving up
Long-horizon math

Rent vs Buy break-even →

Detailed 30-year month-by-month simulation. Tells you which year buying catches up with renting, accounting for inflation + appreciation + selling costs.

Best for: Multi-year planning
Geo arbitrage

Cost-of-living salary adjuster →

If you make $X in California, what would you need in Tennessee? MERIC cost-of-living index between any two US states.

Best for: Negotiating remote salary offers
Tax estimate

Net pay by state →

Estimate annual take-home pay after federal + state income tax + FICA. Switch states to see how no-income-tax states (TX, FL, TN, WA, NV) change your number.

Best for: State-shopping for income tax savings
FIRE math

Savings rate retirement calculator →

How many years to financial independence at a given savings rate + return? The classic FIRE calculator — savings rate matters far more than return.

Best for: Long-term retirement planning
Mortgage math

15 vs 30-year mortgage →

Compare 15- and 30-year fixed mortgages side-by-side: monthly payment, total interest, interest saved. Find the right balance for your situation.

Best for: Choosing a mortgage term
Long-horizon

Home value doubling time →

Rule-of-72 calculator: at X% appreciation, how long until a home doubles? Useful sanity check on momentum projections.

Best for: Long-term outlook reality-checks