#53 of 66 for you
Grand Rapids, MI
Lake Michigan beaches, cheap housing, and a 4.25% flat tax.
Left over monthly
$2,393
Versus Chicago
+$13/mo
+$156 a year
Local pay for your job
$87,243
Local wages run -7% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$1,746
- Rent$1,262
- Other living costs$1,869
- Left over$2,393
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $87,243
- Federal income tax
- −$10,807
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$6,674
- State income tax (MI)
- −$3,470
- Take-home pay
- $66,292
- Effective tax rate
- 24.0%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $1,262
- Groceries
- $368
- Getting around
- $535
- Healthcare
- $414
- Utilities and internet
- $230
- Everything else
- $322
- Total spending
- $3,131
Left over each month
$7,270 gross, minus $1,746 in tax and $3,131 in living costs.
$2,393
What living here is like
- Weather
- 172 sunny days, 83°F in July, 18°F January nights
- Getting around
- Plan on a car per adult
- Average commute
- 23 minutes each way
- Size
- 1.1M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $261,600 — roughly $1,848/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- Michigan income tax. Sales tax 6.0%, property tax 1.31%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 56
- Sun and mild weather
- 47
- Access to the outdoors
- 68
- City life and culture
- 52
- A short commute
- 75
Chicago vs Grand Rapids, line by line
Same job, same household, both tax codes applied.
Open the comparison →Also worth a look
- Seattle, WA$3,406/mo
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
- Austin, TX$3,176/mo
No income tax, but property taxes are among the steepest anywhere.
- Houston, TX$3,159/mo
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
- Dallas, TX$3,044/mo
No income tax, endless new construction, and a 1.5% property tax bill.