Colorado Springs, CO → Phoenix, AZ
You'd keep $232 more a month in Phoenix
+$2,784 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 614 households moved Colorado Springs → Phoenix (avg AGI $75,647). 600 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Colorado Springs | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,417 | $7,573 | +$156 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,773 | $1,705 | −$68 |
| Take-home pay | $5,644 | $5,867 | +$224 |
| Rent | $1,301 | $1,276 | −$25 |
| Getting around | $571 | $586 | +$15 |
| Groceries | $396 | $396 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $446 | $0 |
| Utilities | $248 | $248 | $0 |
| Everything else | $347 | $347 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,337 | $2,569 | +$232 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$87,000
Household gross, versus $89,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Colorado Springs does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,367
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.9% in Colorado Springs, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Colorado Springs, CO in full
Denver's mountains and sunshine, with the lowest property tax on this list.
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 → Colorado Springs →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.