#18 of 66 for you
Phoenix, AZ
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Left over monthly
$2,576
Versus Chicago
+$196/mo
+$2,352 a year
Local pay for your job
$90,995
Local wages run -3% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$1,709
- Rent$1,276
- Other living costs$2,022
- Left over$2,576
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $90,995
- Federal income tax
- −$11,633
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$6,961
- State income tax (AZ)
- −$1,910
- Take-home pay
- $70,491
- Effective tax rate
- 22.5%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $1,276
- Groceries
- $396
- Getting around
- $586
- Healthcare
- $446
- Utilities and internet
- $248
- Everything else
- $347
- Total spending
- $3,298
Left over each month
$7,583 gross, minus $1,709 in tax and $3,298 in living costs.
$2,576
What living here is like
- Weather
- 299 sunny days, 106°F in July, 46°F January nights
- Getting around
- Plan on a car per adult
- Average commute
- 26 minutes each way
- Size
- 5.0M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $401,400 — roughly $2,568/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- Arizona income tax. Sales tax 8.4%, property tax 0.51%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 64
- Sun and mild weather
- 75
- Access to the outdoors
- 78
- City life and culture
- 66
- A short commute
- 60
Chicago vs Phoenix, 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.