Columbus, OH → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $69 a month
−$828 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 372 households moved Columbus → Phoenix (avg AGI $84,132). 365 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Columbus | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,583 | $0 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,888 | $1,709 | −$179 |
| Take-home pay | $5,695 | $5,875 | +$179 |
| Rent | $1,174 | $1,276 | +$102 |
| Getting around | $526 | $586 | +$60 |
| Groceries | $372 | $396 | +$24 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $446 | +$27 |
| Utilities | $233 | $248 | +$15 |
| Everything else | $326 | $347 | +$21 |
| Left over | $2,646 | $2,577 | −$69 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$92,000
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
+$2,151
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.9% in Columbus, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
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 → 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.