$225,000 in Los Angeles ≈ R$909,081 in São Paulo
Software engineer pay: Los Angeles vs São Paulo
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
The bottom line
- →$225,000 in Los Angeles leaves about the same net cash as R$909,081 in São Paulo for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 29.3% of gross in Los Angeles versus 24.7% in São Paulo.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 7 more vacation days per year in São Paulo (statutory).
Where each paycheck goes
Every unit of gross, split four ways. Same net cash, very different shape.
Full Breakdown
| Category | Los Angeles | São Paulo | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $225,000 | R$909,081 ($177,902) | equivalent |
| Income + payroll tax | −$65,913 (29.3%) | −R$224,534 (24.7%) | a touch lower |
| Housing (rent) | −$34,788 | −R$57,720 | ~68% less |
| Healthcare (household) | −$4,220 | −R$15,000 | universal |
| Food & groceries | −$11,016 | −R$53,460 | ~5% less |
| Transit | −$1,200 | −R$2,400 | ~61% less |
| Discretionary | −$8,424 | −R$43,740 | similar |
| Travel home | −$275 | −R$5,500 | ~291% more |
| Net cash kept | $99,164 | R$506,727 | equal in real terms |
Live in either city? Flag any number that looks off.
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, Los Angeles (a senior software engineer). Each figure is in the city's local currency, from the same engine as the calculator; sources are cited per row there.
What changes beyond the money
- Statutory vacation days~15 → ~22
- Total paid days off~26 → ~34
- Paid parental leave10 wks → 17 wks
- Healthcare systemEmployer / private → Universal
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
Open the interactive calculator to run your own →No signup. Your salary stays in your browser, and we never see it.
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Moving from Los Angeles to São Paulo for a software engineer
$225,000 in Los Angeles requires R$909,081 in São Paulo to match on household net cash. The gap is real, but it is smaller than the nominal numbers suggest once taxes run their course. Progressive brackets compress the after-tax difference faster than a compensation benchmarking site would lead you to believe, because those sites show gross and stop there.
Taxes are actually lower in São Paulo (24.7%) than in Los Angeles (29.3%). That's unusual for a country with a high-tax reputation, and worth checking the bracket structure directly.
Unvested equity changes this calculation entirely. RSU value is not modeled in the defaults above, but if you are mid-cycle at your current employer, leaving means forfeiting grants you have already been working toward, and that difference can be larger than the annual take-home delta that drove the comparison in the first place. The Advanced section's "RSU / stock annual value" field is where you plug that number in. Equity-heavy comp favors lower-tax cities at vesting; the after-tax discount gets larger the bigger the grant.
On an employer plan the healthy years feel nearly free; it's the bad year that finds the gap. São Paulo is universal, so most of that tail risk goes away. Los Angeles still runs $4,220 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and none of it shows up on an offer letter.
São Paulo engineers get 22 vacation days per year. Los Angeles averages 15. That 7-day gap is real money at a senior IC's daily rate, and it does not show up on the offer letter.
No kids, employer healthcare, and a single high-bracket income: this is the configuration that makes Los Angeles look best in a head-to-head comparison. It is also the configuration most likely to change. The family scenario page (linked below) models what shifts once childcare and a second earner enter the picture.
Who comes out ahead
You keep 56% of gross there versus 44%. Housing drives most of that gap.
You also get universal healthcare and more paid leave on top of the money math in São Paulo. Run the family scenario to see it.
São Paulo gives you 8 more paid days off a year and 7 more weeks of paid leave, none of which shows on an offer letter.
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in São Paulo to match a $225,000 salary in Los Angeles?
About R$909,081. cityparity solves for the São Paulo gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in Los Angeles. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
Is healthcare free in São Paulo?
São Paulo has universal public healthcare, so you avoid US-style deductibles and surprise medical bills. But most working professionals still carry private top-up cover, which cityparity models at about R$15,000 a year and counts in the comparison.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in São Paulo?
São Paulo has about 34 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 17 weeks of parental leave. cityparity surfaces these as deltas rather than dollars, because time off is part of the real comparison.
Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →