Kansas City vs Springfield leftover
Moving to Springfield costs you $64 a month
$2,549/mo leftover in Springfield vs $2,613 in Kansas City after tax and rent ($64 less). −$768 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
Springfield leftover
$2,549
−$64 vs Kansas City
Compare Kansas City to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Kansas City.
Monthly gap
Kansas City → Springfield
$64
less / month in Kansas City
$2,549 in Springfield · $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, 363 households moved Kansas City → Springfield (avg AGI $62,124). 630 went the other way. The whole move →
−$64 / mo
| Per month | Kansas City | Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $6,739 | −$844 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,905 | $1,539 | −$366 |
| Take-home pay | $5,679 | $5,200 | −$478 |
| Rent | $1,167 | $865 | −$302 |
| Getting around | $551 | $518 | −$33 |
| Groceries | $372 | $350 | −$22 |
| Healthcare | $419 | $394 | −$25 |
| Utilities | $233 | $219 | −$14 |
| Everything else | $326 | $306 | −$20 |
| Left over | $2,613 | $2,549 | −$64 |
To break even in Springfield, you'd need to earn
$82,000
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
+$1,386
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Kansas City, 22.8% in Springfield.
More about Springfield
Kansas City, MO in full
Genuinely low cost of living for a metro with real amenities.
Springfield, MO in full
State income tax topping out at 4.7%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,030 and 219 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Springfield on Springfield wages.
Springfield → Kansas City →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Springfield than Kansas City?
A one-bedroom is about $1,167 in Kansas City versus $865 in Springfield. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $64 a month lower in Springfield. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Springfield have state income tax?
Springfield is in Missouri, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Kansas City to Springfield?
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 Springfield 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.