Perspective matters - a person living in California making $300,000 is the same thing as someone who makes $150,000 in Texas. I had a colleague who was so excited about moving to California with double the pay raise despite explaining to him that the cost of living was significantly higher and that he should have adjusted his pay more to cover the additional taxes. He was confident that he would still be ahead. 6 weeks later… he realized he was wrong. Too late to ask and have any leverage.