Moving from Boston to Sacramento
You'd keep $237 more a month in Sacramento
+$2,844 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
Sacramento leftover
$2,117
+$237 vs Boston
In 2022-2023, 68 households moved Boston → Sacramento (avg AGI $110,956). 100 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Boston | Sacramento | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,042 | $8,028 | −$1,013 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,416 | $2,097 | −$319 |
| Take-home pay | $6,626 | $5,931 | −$695 |
| Rent | $2,619 | $1,677 | −$942 |
| Getting around | $445 | $600 | +$155 |
| Groceries | $464 | $424 | −$40 |
| Healthcare | $522 | $477 | −$45 |
| Utilities | $290 | $265 | −$25 |
| Everything else | $406 | $371 | −$35 |
| Left over | $1,880 | $2,117 | +$237 |
To break even in Sacramento, you'd need to earn
$91,500
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
+$218
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.7% in Boston, 26.1% in Sacramento.
More about Sacramento
Boston, MA in full
Great pay in medicine and research, brutal winters, tight housing stock.
Sacramento, CA in full
Bay Area access at two-thirds the rent, with California's tax bill intact.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Sacramento on Sacramento wages.
Sacramento → Boston →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Sacramento than Boston?
A one-bedroom is about $2,619 in Boston versus $1,677 in Sacramento. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $237 a month higher in Sacramento. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Sacramento have state income tax?
Sacramento is in California, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Boston to Sacramento?
Take-home pay is recalculated under California 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.