Denver, CO → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $76 a month
−$912 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | Denver | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,250 | $7,550 | −$700 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,057 | $1,698 | −$359 |
| Take-home pay | $6,193 | $5,852 | −$342 |
| Rent | $1,490 | $1,276 | −$214 |
| Getting around | $551 | $586 | +$35 |
| Groceries | $420 | $396 | −$24 |
| Healthcare | $473 | $446 | −$27 |
| Utilities | $263 | $248 | −$15 |
| Everything else | $368 | $347 | −$21 |
| Left over | $2,630 | $2,554 | −$76 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$92,000
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
+$1,814
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.9% in Denver, 22.5% in Phoenix.
Denver, CO in full
Mountains in an hour, 245 sunny days, and a flat 4.4% state tax.
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 → 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.