Duluth vs St. Cloud leftover
You'd keep $100 more a month in St. Cloud
$2,600/mo leftover in St. Cloud vs $2,500 in Duluth after tax and rent ($100 more). +$1,200 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Duluth leftover
$2,500
a month after tax and rent
St. Cloud leftover
$2,600
+$100 vs Duluth
Compare Duluth to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Duluth.
Monthly gap
Duluth → St. Cloud
$100
more / month in St. Cloud
$2,600 in St. Cloud · $2,500 in Duluth · 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, 36 households moved Duluth → St. Cloud (avg AGI $46,194). 71 went the other way. The whole move →
+$100 / mo
| Per month | Duluth | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,083 | $7,146 | +$63 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,761 | $1,784 | +$23 |
| Take-home pay | $5,322 | $5,362 | +$40 |
| Rent | $1,049 | $986 | −$63 |
| Getting around | $501 | $500 | −$1 |
| Groceries | $351 | $352 | +$1 |
| Healthcare | $395 | $396 | +$1 |
| Utilities | $219 | $220 | +$1 |
| Everything else | $307 | $308 | +$1 |
| Left over | $2,500 | $2,600 | +$100 |
To break even in St. Cloud, you'd need to earn
$84,000
Household gross, versus $85,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Duluth does now.
The tax difference alone
−$51
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.9% in Duluth, 25.0% in St. Cloud.
More about St. Cloud
Duluth, MN in full
State income tax topping out at 9.85%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,249 and 158 sunny days; commutes average 21 minutes.
St. Cloud, MN in full
State income tax topping out at 9.85%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,174 and 191 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from St. Cloud on St. Cloud wages.
St. Cloud → Duluth →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in St. Cloud than Duluth?
A one-bedroom is about $1,049 in Duluth versus $986 in St. Cloud. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $100 a month higher in St. Cloud. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does St. Cloud have state income tax?
St. Cloud is in Minnesota, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Duluth to St. Cloud?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Minnesota 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 Duluth and St. Cloud 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.