Columbus, OH → Cleveland, OH
You'd keep $13 more a month in Cleveland
+$156 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 1,434 households moved Columbus → Cleveland (avg AGI $63,172). 1,926 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Columbus | Cleveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,427 | −$156 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,888 | $1,833 | −$55 |
| Take-home pay | $5,695 | $5,594 | −$102 |
| Rent | $1,174 | $1,100 | −$74 |
| Getting around | $526 | $515 | −$11 |
| Groceries | $372 | $364 | −$8 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $410 | −$9 |
| Utilities | $233 | $228 | −$5 |
| Everything else | $326 | $319 | −$7 |
| Left over | $2,646 | $2,659 | +$13 |
To break even in Cleveland, you'd need to earn
$89,000
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
+$98
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.9% in Columbus, 24.7% in Cleveland.
More about Cleveland
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
Cleveland, OH in full
World-class hospitals and an orchestra, at the lowest rents of any large metro.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Cleveland on Cleveland wages.
Cleveland → Columbus →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.