Detroit, MI → Cleveland, OH
You'd keep $162 more a month in Cleveland
+$1,944 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 286 households moved Detroit → Cleveland (avg AGI $68,773). 302 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Detroit | Cleveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,625 | $7,392 | −$233 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,049 | $1,821 | −$228 |
| Take-home pay | $5,576 | $5,570 | −$5 |
| Rent | $1,194 | $1,100 | −$94 |
| Getting around | $560 | $515 | −$45 |
| Groceries | $372 | $364 | −$8 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $410 | −$9 |
| Utilities | $233 | $228 | −$5 |
| Everything else | $326 | $319 | −$7 |
| Left over | $2,473 | $2,635 | +$162 |
To break even in Cleveland, you'd need to earn
$85,500
Household gross, versus $91,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Detroit does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,906
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.9% in Detroit, 24.6% in Cleveland.
More about Cleveland
Detroit, MI in full
Engineering wages against some of the cheapest urban housing in America.
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 → Detroit →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.