Dayton vs Columbus leftover
You'd keep $78 more a month in Columbus
$2,621/mo leftover in Columbus vs $2,543 in Dayton after tax and rent ($78 more). +$936 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Dayton leftover
$2,543
a month after tax and rent
Columbus leftover
$2,621
+$78 vs Dayton
Compare Dayton to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Dayton.
Monthly gap
Dayton → Columbus
$78
more / month in Columbus
$2,621 in Columbus · $2,543 in Dayton · 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, 1,233 households moved Dayton → Columbus (avg AGI $61,393). 939 went the other way. The whole move →
+$78 / mo
| Per month | Dayton | Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,167 | $7,548 | +$381 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,707 | $1,876 | +$169 |
| Take-home pay | $5,460 | $5,672 | +$212 |
| Rent | $1,018 | $1,176 | +$158 |
| Getting around | $540 | $526 | −$14 |
| Groceries | $375 | $372 | −$3 |
| Healthcare | $422 | $419 | −$3 |
| Utilities | $234 | $233 | −$1 |
| Everything else | $328 | $326 | −$2 |
| Left over | $2,543 | $2,621 | +$78 |
To break even in Columbus, you'd need to earn
$89,000
Household gross, versus $86,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Dayton does now.
The tax difference alone
−$670
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.8% in Dayton, 24.9% in Columbus.
More about Columbus
Dayton, OH in full
State income tax topping out at 3.5%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,212 and 190 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Columbus on Columbus wages.
Columbus → Dayton →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Columbus than Dayton?
A one-bedroom is about $1,018 in Dayton versus $1,176 in Columbus. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $78 a month higher in Columbus. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Columbus have state income tax?
Columbus is in Ohio, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 2.50%.
What changes if you move from Dayton to Columbus?
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 Dayton and Columbus 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.