Allentown vs Philadelphia leftover
You'd keep $198 more a month in Philadelphia
$2,423/mo leftover in Philadelphia vs $2,225 in Allentown after tax and rent ($198 more). +$2,376 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Allentown leftover
$2,225
a month after tax and rent
Philadelphia leftover
$2,423
+$198 vs Allentown
Compare Allentown to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Allentown.
Monthly gap
Allentown → Philadelphia
$198
more / month in Philadelphia
$2,423 in Philadelphia · $2,225 in Allentown · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 2,155 households moved Allentown → Philadelphia (avg AGI $75,120). 2,110 went the other way. The whole move →
+$198 / mo
| Per month | Allentown | Philadelphia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,500 | $8,108 | +$608 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,830 | $2,258 | +$428 |
| Take-home pay | $5,670 | $5,850 | +$180 |
| Rent | $1,431 | $1,530 | +$99 |
| Getting around | $559 | $418 | −$141 |
| Groceries | $401 | $408 | +$7 |
| Healthcare | $451 | $459 | +$8 |
| Utilities | $251 | $255 | +$4 |
| Everything else | $351 | $357 | +$6 |
| Left over | $2,225 | $2,423 | +$198 |
To break even in Philadelphia, you'd need to earn
$93,500
Household gross, versus $90,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Allentown does now.
The tax difference alone
−$2,973
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Allentown, 27.9% in Philadelphia.
More about Philadelphia
Allentown, PA in full
A flat 3.07% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,704 and 188 sunny days; commutes average 28 minutes.
Philadelphia, PA in full
East Coast density at half of Boston's rent, minus a 3.75% city wage tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Philadelphia on Philadelphia wages.
Philadelphia → Allentown →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Philadelphia than Allentown?
A one-bedroom is about $1,431 in Allentown versus $1,530 in Philadelphia. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $198 a month higher in Philadelphia. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Philadelphia have state income tax?
Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 3.75%.
What changes if you move from Allentown to Philadelphia?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Pennsylvania tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Allentown and Philadelphia moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.