Buffalo vs Kingston leftover
Moving to Kingston costs you $212 a month
$2,313/mo leftover in Kingston vs $2,525 in Buffalo after tax and rent ($212 less). −$2,544 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Buffalo leftover
$2,525
a month after tax and rent
Kingston leftover
$2,313
−$212 vs Buffalo
Compare Buffalo to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Buffalo.
Monthly gap
Buffalo → Kingston
$212
less / month in Buffalo
$2,313 in Kingston · $2,525 in Buffalo · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
25 went the other way. The whole move →
−$212 / mo
| Per month | Buffalo | Kingston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,417 | $7,784 | +$367 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,858 | $1,989 | +$131 |
| Take-home pay | $5,559 | $5,795 | +$236 |
| Rent | $1,169 | $1,541 | +$372 |
| Getting around | $517 | $502 | −$15 |
| Groceries | $372 | $397 | +$25 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $446 | +$27 |
| Utilities | $233 | $248 | +$15 |
| Everything else | $326 | $347 | +$21 |
| Left over | $2,525 | $2,313 | −$212 |
To break even in Kingston, you'd need to earn
$97,500
Household gross, versus $89,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Buffalo does now.
The tax difference alone
−$264
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.0% in Buffalo, 25.5% in Kingston.
More about Kingston
Buffalo, NY in full
Cheap housing, a 21-minute commute, and 85 inches of snow.
Kingston, NY in full
State income tax topping out at 9.65%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,834 and 179 sunny days; commutes average 28 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Kingston on Kingston wages.
Kingston → Buffalo →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Kingston than Buffalo?
A one-bedroom is about $1,169 in Buffalo versus $1,541 in Kingston. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $212 a month lower in Kingston. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Kingston have state income tax?
Kingston is in New York, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Buffalo to Kingston?
Take-home pay is recalculated under New York 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.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Buffalo and Kingston moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
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.