Moving from Boston to Kansas City
You'd keep $701 more a month in Kansas City
+$8,412 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
Boston leftover
$1,880
a month after tax and rent
Kansas City leftover
$2,581
+$701 vs Boston
In 2022-2023, 42 households moved Boston → Kansas City (avg AGI $107,524). 49 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Boston | Kansas City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $7,561 | −$1,481 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $1,897 | −$519 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,664 | −$962 |
| Rent | $2,619 | $1,184 | −$1,435 |
| Getting around | $445 | $551 | +$106 |
| Groceries | $464 | $372 | −$92 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $419 | −$103 |
| Utilities | $290 | $233 | −$57 |
| Everything else | $406 | $326 | −$80 |
| Left over | $1,880 | $2,581 | +$701 |
To break even in Kansas City, you'd need to earn
$77,500
Household gross, versus $108,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Boston does now.
The tax difference alone
+$960
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 25.1% in Kansas City.
More about Kansas City
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Kansas City on Kansas City wages.
Kansas City → Boston →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Kansas City than Boston?
A one-bedroom is about $2,619 in Boston versus $1,184 in Kansas City. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $701 a month higher in Kansas City. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Kansas City have state income tax?
Kansas City is in Missouri, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Boston to Kansas City?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Missouri 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.
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.