Joplin vs Kansas City leftover
You'd keep $323 more a month in Kansas City
$2,593/mo leftover in Kansas City vs $2,270 in Joplin after tax and rent ($323 more). +$3,876 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Joplin leftover
$2,270
a month after tax and rent
Kansas City leftover
$2,593
+$323 vs Joplin
Compare Joplin to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Joplin.
Monthly gap
Joplin → Kansas City
$323
more / month in Kansas City
$2,593 in Kansas City · $2,270 in Joplin · 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, 177 households moved Joplin → Kansas City (avg AGI $46,994). 68 went the other way. The whole move →
+$323 / mo
| Per month | Joplin | Kansas City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,417 | $7,554 | +$1,137 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,428 | $1,894 | +$466 |
| Take-home pay | $4,989 | $5,659 | +$671 |
| Rent | $906 | $1,167 | +$261 |
| Getting around | $544 | $551 | +$7 |
| Groceries | $350 | $372 | +$22 |
| Healthcare | $394 | $419 | +$25 |
| Utilities | $219 | $233 | +$14 |
| Everything else | $306 | $326 | +$20 |
| Left over | $2,270 | $2,593 | +$323 |
To break even in Kansas City, you'd need to earn
$84,500
Household gross, versus $77,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Joplin does now.
The tax difference alone
−$1,548
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.3% in Joplin, 25.1% in Kansas City.
More about Kansas City
Joplin, MO in full
State income tax topping out at 4.7%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,078 and 223 sunny days; commutes average 20 minutes.
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Kansas City on Kansas City wages.
Kansas City → Joplin →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Kansas City than Joplin?
A one-bedroom is about $906 in Joplin versus $1,167 in Kansas City. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $323 a month higher in Kansas City. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Kansas City have state income tax?
Kansas City is in Missouri, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Joplin to Kansas City?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Missouri 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 Joplin and Kansas City 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.