Boston, MA → Philadelphia, PA
You'd keep $531 more a month in Philadelphia
+$6,372 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | Boston | Philadelphia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $8,106 | −$935 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $2,258 | −$158 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,849 | −$777 |
| Rent | $2,619 | $1,541 | −$1,078 |
| Getting around | $445 | $418 | −$27 |
| Groceries | $464 | $408 | −$56 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $459 | −$63 |
| Utilities | $290 | $255 | −$35 |
| Everything else | $406 | $357 | −$49 |
| Left over | $1,880 | $2,411 | +$531 |
To break even in Philadelphia, you'd need to earn
$87,500
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
−$1,429
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 27.8% in Philadelphia.
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
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 → Boston →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.