Columbia vs Cape Girardeau leftover
You'd keep $1 more a month in Cape Girardeau
$2,472/mo leftover in Cape Girardeau vs $2,471 in Columbia after tax and rent ($1 more). +$12 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Columbia leftover
$2,471
a month after tax and rent
Cape Girardeau leftover
$2,472
+$1 vs Columbia
Compare Columbia to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Columbia.
Monthly gap
Columbia → Cape Girardeau
$1
more / month in Cape Girardeau
$2,472 in Cape Girardeau · $2,471 in Columbia · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
+$1 / mo
| Per month | Columbia | Cape Girardeau | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,833 | $6,444 | −$389 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,571 | $1,438 | −$134 |
| Take-home pay | $5,262 | $5,007 | −$255 |
| Rent | $1,020 | $721 | −$299 |
| Getting around | $502 | $542 | +$40 |
| Groceries | $350 | $351 | +$1 |
| Healthcare | $394 | $395 | +$1 |
| Utilities | $219 | $219 | $0 |
| Everything else | $306 | $307 | +$1 |
| Left over | $2,471 | $2,472 | +$1 |
To break even in Cape Girardeau, you'd need to earn
$77,500
Household gross, versus $82,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Columbia does now.
The tax difference alone
+$219
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.0% in Columbia, 22.3% in Cape Girardeau.
More about Cape Girardeau
Columbia, MO in full
State income tax topping out at 4.7%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,214 and 217 sunny days; commutes average 20 minutes.
Cape Girardeau, MO in full
State income tax topping out at 4.7%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $858 and 219 sunny days; commutes average 21 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Cape Girardeau on Cape Girardeau wages.
Cape Girardeau → Columbia →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Cape Girardeau than Columbia?
A one-bedroom is about $1,020 in Columbia versus $721 in Cape Girardeau. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $1 a month higher in Cape Girardeau. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Cape Girardeau have state income tax?
Cape Girardeau is in Missouri, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Columbia to Cape Girardeau?
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.
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 Columbia and Cape Girardeau 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.