Kansas City, MO → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $19 a month
−$228 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 554 households moved Kansas City → Phoenix (avg AGI $105,899). 495 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Kansas City | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,583 | $0 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,905 | $1,709 | −$196 |
| Take-home pay | $5,679 | $5,875 | +$196 |
| Rent | $1,184 | $1,276 | +$92 |
| Getting around | $551 | $586 | +$35 |
| Groceries | $372 | $396 | +$24 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $446 | +$27 |
| Utilities | $233 | $248 | +$15 |
| Everything else | $326 | $347 | +$21 |
| Left over | $2,596 | $2,577 | −$19 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$91,500
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
+$2,350
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Kansas City, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
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 → Kansas City →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.