#65 of 66 for you
Riverside, CA
Southern California's affordable option, paid for with a 33-minute commute.
Left over monthly
$1,389
Versus Chicago
−$991/mo
−$11,892 a year
Local pay for your job
$88,181
Local wages run -6% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$1,832
- Rent$1,946
- Other living costs$2,181
- Left over$1,389
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $88,181
- Federal income tax
- −$11,014
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$6,746
- State income tax (CA)
- −$4,228
- Take-home pay
- $66,193
- Effective tax rate
- 24.9%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $1,946
- Groceries
- $424
- Getting around
- $644
- Healthcare
- $477
- Utilities and internet
- $265
- Everything else
- $371
- Total spending
- $4,127
Left over each month
$7,348 gross, minus $1,832 in tax and $4,127 in living costs.
$1,389
What living here is like
- Weather
- 269 sunny days, 96°F in July, 42°F January nights
- Getting around
- Plan on a car per adult
- Average commute
- 33 minutes each way
- Size
- 4.7M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $493,600 — roughly $3,273/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- California income tax. Sales tax 8.8%, property tax 0.79%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 12
- Sun and mild weather
- 82
- Access to the outdoors
- 82
- City life and culture
- 54
- A short commute
- 25
Chicago vs Riverside, 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.