Columbus vs Akron leftover
You'd keep $39 more a month in Akron
$2,683/mo leftover in Akron vs $2,644 in Columbus after tax and rent ($39 more). +$468 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Columbus leftover
$2,644
a month after tax and rent
Akron leftover
$2,683
+$39 vs Columbus
Compare Columbus to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Columbus.
Monthly gap
Columbus → Akron
$39
more / month in Akron
$2,683 in Akron · $2,644 in Columbus · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 460 households moved Columbus → Akron (avg AGI $52,822). 802 went the other way. The whole move →
+$39 / mo
| Per month | Columbus | Akron | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,185 | −$399 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,888 | $1,713 | −$175 |
| Take-home pay | $5,695 | $5,472 | −$224 |
| Rent | $1,176 | $904 | −$272 |
| Getting around | $526 | $526 | $0 |
| Groceries | $372 | $375 | +$3 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $422 | +$3 |
| Utilities | $233 | $234 | +$1 |
| Everything else | $326 | $328 | +$2 |
| Left over | $2,644 | $2,683 | +$39 |
To break even in Akron, you'd need to earn
$85,500
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Columbus does now.
The tax difference alone
+$682
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.9% in Columbus, 23.8% in Akron.
More about Akron
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
Akron, OH in full
State income tax topping out at 3.5%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,076 and 173 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Akron on Akron wages.
Akron → Columbus →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Akron than Columbus?
A one-bedroom is about $1,176 in Columbus versus $904 in Akron. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $39 a month higher in Akron. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Akron have state income tax?
Akron is in Ohio, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 2.00%.
What changes if you move from Columbus to Akron?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Ohio 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 Columbus and Akron 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.