Boise, ID → Phoenix, AZ
You'd keep $547 more a month in Phoenix
+$6,564 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 455 households moved Boise → Phoenix (avg AGI $79,273). 479 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Boise | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,000 | $7,544 | +$544 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,706 | $1,696 | −$10 |
| Take-home pay | $5,294 | $5,848 | +$554 |
| Rent | $1,361 | $1,276 | −$85 |
| Getting around | $524 | $586 | +$62 |
| Groceries | $388 | $396 | +$8 |
| Healthcare | $437 | $446 | +$9 |
| Utilities | $243 | $248 | +$5 |
| Everything else | $340 | $347 | +$7 |
| Left over | $2,003 | $2,550 | +$547 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$81,000
Household gross, versus $84,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Boise does now.
The tax difference alone
+$2,054
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Boise, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Boise, ID in full
Outdoor access that rivals Denver, on wages that haven't caught up to the home prices.
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Phoenix on Phoenix wages.
Phoenix → Boise →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.