Houston, TX → St. Louis, MO
Moving to St. Louis costs you $503 a month
−$6,036 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | Houston | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,958 | $7,568 | −$390 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,661 | $1,899 | +$238 |
| Take-home pay | $6,298 | $5,669 | −$629 |
| Rent | $1,199 | $1,144 | −$55 |
| Getting around | $572 | $545 | −$27 |
| Groceries | $380 | $368 | −$12 |
| Healthcare | $428 | $414 | −$14 |
| Utilities | $238 | $230 | −$8 |
| Everything else | $333 | $322 | −$11 |
| Left over | $3,149 | $2,646 | −$503 |
To break even in St. Louis, you'd need to earn
$100,000
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
−$4,250
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 20.9% in Houston, 25.1% in St. Louis.
Houston, TX in full
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
St. Louis, MO in full
The lowest home prices of any metro over 2 million people.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from St. Louis on St. Louis wages.
St. Louis → 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.