Houston, TX → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $583 a month
−$6,996 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | Houston | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,958 | $7,568 | −$390 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,661 | $1,704 | +$43 |
| Take-home pay | $6,298 | $5,864 | −$433 |
| Rent | $1,199 | $1,276 | +$77 |
| Getting around | $572 | $586 | +$14 |
| Groceries | $380 | $396 | +$16 |
| Healthcare | $428 | $446 | +$18 |
| Utilities | $238 | $248 | +$10 |
| Everything else | $333 | $347 | +$14 |
| Left over | $3,149 | $2,566 | −$583 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$101,000
Household gross, versus $95,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Houston does now.
The tax difference alone
−$1,905
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 20.9% in Houston, 22.5% in Phoenix.
Houston, TX in full
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
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 → Houston →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.