Kansas City vs Joplin leftover
Moving to Joplin costs you $327 a month
$2,286/mo leftover in Joplin vs $2,613 in Kansas City after tax and rent ($327 less). −$3,924 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Kansas City leftover
$2,613
a month after tax and rent
Joplin leftover
$2,286
−$327 vs Kansas City
Compare Kansas City to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Kansas City.
Monthly gap
Kansas City → Joplin
$327
less / month in Kansas City
$2,286 in Joplin · $2,613 in Kansas City · 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, 68 households moved Kansas City → Joplin (avg AGI $70,853). 177 went the other way. The whole move →
−$327 / mo
| Per month | Kansas City | Joplin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $6,442 | −$1,141 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,905 | $1,437 | −$468 |
| Take-home pay | $5,679 | $5,005 | −$674 |
| Rent | $1,167 | $906 | −$261 |
| Getting around | $551 | $544 | −$7 |
| Groceries | $372 | $350 | −$22 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $394 | −$25 |
| Utilities | $233 | $219 | −$14 |
| Everything else | $326 | $306 | −$20 |
| Left over | $2,613 | $2,286 | −$327 |
To break even in Joplin, you'd need to earn
$83,500
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Kansas City does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,554
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Kansas City, 22.3% in Joplin.
More about Joplin
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
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.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Joplin on Joplin wages.
Joplin → Kansas City →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Joplin than Kansas City?
A one-bedroom is about $1,167 in Kansas City versus $906 in Joplin. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $327 a month lower in Joplin. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Joplin have state income tax?
Joplin is in Missouri, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Kansas City to Joplin?
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 Kansas City and Joplin 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.