Denver, CO → Houston, TX
You'd keep $505 more a month in Houston
+$6,060 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | Denver | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,250 | $7,939 | −$311 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,057 | $1,655 | −$402 |
| Take-home pay | $6,193 | $6,284 | +$90 |
| Rent | $1,490 | $1,199 | −$291 |
| Getting around | $551 | $572 | +$21 |
| Groceries | $420 | $380 | −$40 |
| Healthcare | $473 | $428 | −$45 |
| Utilities | $263 | $238 | −$25 |
| Everything else | $368 | $333 | −$35 |
| Left over | $2,630 | $3,135 | +$505 |
To break even in Houston, you'd need to earn
$86,500
Household gross, versus $99,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Denver does now.
The tax difference alone
+$3,714
A year, in state and local income tax. Texas has no wage income tax.
Denver, CO in full
Mountains in an hour, 245 sunny days, and a flat 4.4% state tax.
Houston, TX in full
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Houston on Houston wages.
Houston → Denver →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.