Flagstaff vs Phoenix leftover
You'd keep $1,028 more a month in Phoenix
$2,568/mo leftover in Phoenix vs $1,540 in Flagstaff after tax and rent ($1,028 more). +$12,336 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Flagstaff leftover
$1,540
a month after tax and rent
Phoenix leftover
$2,568
+$1,028 vs Flagstaff
Compare Flagstaff to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Flagstaff.
Monthly gap
Flagstaff → Phoenix
$1,028
more / month in Phoenix
$2,568 in Phoenix · $1,540 in Flagstaff · 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, 1,630 households moved Flagstaff → Phoenix (avg AGI $61,655). 1,387 went the other way. The whole move →
+$1,028 / mo
| Per month | Flagstaff | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,417 | $7,572 | +$1,155 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,334 | $1,705 | +$371 |
| Take-home pay | $5,083 | $5,867 | +$784 |
| Rent | $1,643 | $1,277 | −$366 |
| Getting around | $485 | $586 | +$101 |
| Groceries | $390 | $396 | +$6 |
| Healthcare | $439 | $446 | +$7 |
| Utilities | $244 | $248 | +$4 |
| Everything else | $342 | $347 | +$5 |
| Left over | $1,540 | $2,568 | +$1,028 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$72,500
Household gross, versus $77,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Flagstaff does now.
The tax difference alone
−$347
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 20.8% in Flagstaff, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Flagstaff, AZ in full
A flat 2.5% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,956 and 272 sunny days; commutes average 19 minutes.
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 → Flagstaff →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Phoenix than Flagstaff?
A one-bedroom is about $1,643 in Flagstaff versus $1,277 in Phoenix. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $1,028 a month higher in Phoenix. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Phoenix have state income tax?
Phoenix is in Arizona, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Flagstaff to Phoenix?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Arizona 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 Flagstaff and Phoenix 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.