Fort Wayne vs Elkhart leftover
Moving to Elkhart costs you $73 a month
$2,399/mo leftover in Elkhart vs $2,472 in Fort Wayne after tax and rent ($73 less). −$876 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Fort Wayne leftover
$2,472
a month after tax and rent
Elkhart leftover
$2,399
−$73 vs Fort Wayne
Compare Fort Wayne to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Fort Wayne.
Monthly gap
Fort Wayne → Elkhart
$73
less / month in Fort Wayne
$2,399 in Elkhart · $2,472 in Fort Wayne · 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, 41 households moved Fort Wayne → Elkhart (avg AGI $48,220). 112 went the other way. The whole move →
−$73 / mo
| Per month | Fort Wayne | Elkhart | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,125 | $6,907 | −$218 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,732 | $1,657 | −$75 |
| Take-home pay | $5,393 | $5,249 | −$144 |
| Rent | $970 | $884 | −$86 |
| Getting around | $579 | $594 | +$15 |
| Groceries | $378 | $378 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $426 | $426 | $0 |
| Utilities | $237 | $237 | $0 |
| Everything else | $331 | $331 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,472 | $2,399 | −$73 |
To break even in Elkhart, you'd need to earn
$84,000
Household gross, versus $85,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Fort Wayne does now.
The tax difference alone
+$118
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.3% in Fort Wayne, 24.0% in Elkhart.
More about Elkhart
Fort Wayne, IN in full
A flat 3% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,155 and 187 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
Elkhart, IN in full
A flat 3% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,052 and 181 sunny days; commutes average 19 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Elkhart on Elkhart wages.
Elkhart → Fort Wayne →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Elkhart than Fort Wayne?
A one-bedroom is about $970 in Fort Wayne versus $884 in Elkhart. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $73 a month lower in Elkhart. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Elkhart have state income tax?
Elkhart is in Indiana, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.50%.
What changes if you move from Fort Wayne to Elkhart?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Indiana 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 Fort Wayne and Elkhart 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.