Hickory vs Raleigh leftover
You'd keep $640 more a month in Raleigh
$2,732/mo leftover in Raleigh vs $2,092 in Hickory after tax and rent ($640 more). +$7,680 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Hickory leftover
$2,092
a month after tax and rent
Raleigh leftover
$2,732
+$640 vs Hickory
Compare Hickory to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Hickory.
Monthly gap
Hickory → Raleigh
$640
more / month in Raleigh
$2,732 in Raleigh · $2,092 in Hickory · 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, 126 households moved Hickory → Raleigh (avg AGI $70,968). 126 went the other way. The whole move →
+$640 / mo
| Per month | Hickory | Raleigh | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,792 | $7,867 | +$1,075 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,558 | $1,923 | +$364 |
| Take-home pay | $5,233 | $5,944 | +$710 |
| Rent | $1,142 | $1,252 | +$110 |
| Getting around | $605 | $568 | −$37 |
| Groceries | $385 | $384 | −$1 |
| Healthcare | $433 | $432 | −$1 |
| Utilities | $241 | $240 | −$1 |
| Everything else | $337 | $336 | −$1 |
| Left over | $2,092 | $2,732 | +$640 |
To break even in Raleigh, you'd need to earn
$83,000
Household gross, versus $81,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Hickory does now.
The tax difference alone
−$548
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.9% in Hickory, 24.4% in Raleigh.
More about Raleigh
Hickory, NC in full
A flat 4.25% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,360 and 223 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
Raleigh, NC in full
Research Triangle salaries, low taxes, and not much to do downtown.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Raleigh on Raleigh wages.
Raleigh → Hickory →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Raleigh than Hickory?
A one-bedroom is about $1,142 in Hickory versus $1,252 in Raleigh. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $640 a month higher in Raleigh. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Raleigh have state income tax?
Raleigh is in North Carolina, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Hickory to Raleigh?
Take-home pay is recalculated under North Carolina 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 Hickory and Raleigh 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.