Birmingham, AL → New York, NY
Moving to New York costs you $1,103 a month
−$13,236 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 126 households moved Birmingham → New York (avg AGI $54,817). 50 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Birmingham | New York | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,167 | $9,270 | +$2,103 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,840 | $2,878 | +$1,038 |
| Take-home pay | $5,326 | $6,392 | +$1,066 |
| Rent | $1,125 | $3,021 | +$1,896 |
| Getting around | $553 | $347 | −$206 |
| Groceries | $364 | $496 | +$132 |
| Healthcare | $410 | $558 | +$148 |
| Utilities | $228 | $310 | +$82 |
| Everything else | $319 | $434 | +$115 |
| Left over | $2,329 | $1,226 | −$1,103 |
To break even in New York, you'd need to earn
$133,500
Household gross, versus $86,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Birmingham does now.
The tax difference alone
−$4,968
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.7% in Birmingham, 31.0% in New York.
More about New York
Birmingham, AL in full
The lowest property tax rate in the country, on cheap houses.
New York, NY in full
The one place where skipping a car genuinely offsets the rent.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from New York on New York wages.
New York → Birmingham →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.