Los Angeles vs Santa Cruz leftover
Moving to Santa Cruz costs you $693 a month
$1,007/mo leftover in Santa Cruz vs $1,700 in Los Angeles after tax and rent ($693 less). −$8,316 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Los Angeles leftover
$1,700
a month after tax and rent
Santa Cruz leftover
$1,007
−$693 vs Los Angeles
Compare Los Angeles to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Los Angeles.
Monthly gap
Los Angeles → Santa Cruz
$693
less / month in Los Angeles
$1,007 in Santa Cruz · $1,700 in Los Angeles · 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, 393 households moved Los Angeles → Santa Cruz (avg AGI $70,623). 388 went the other way. The whole move →
−$693 / mo
| Per month | Los Angeles | Santa Cruz | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,750 | $7,656 | −$1,094 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,378 | $1,952 | −$426 |
| Take-home pay | $6,372 | $5,704 | −$668 |
| Rent | $2,273 | $2,638 | +$365 |
| Getting around | $674 | $489 | −$185 |
| Groceries | $476 | $433 | −$43 |
| Healthcare | $536 | $487 | −$49 |
| Utilities | $298 | $271 | −$27 |
| Everything else | $417 | $379 | −$38 |
| Left over | $1,700 | $1,007 | −$693 |
To break even in Santa Cruz, you'd need to earn
$105,500
Household gross, versus $105,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Los Angeles does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,221
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 27.2% in Los Angeles, 25.5% in Santa Cruz.
More about Santa Cruz
Los Angeles, CA in full
Perfect weather, deep job market, and a car payment you can't avoid.
Santa Cruz, CA in full
State income tax topping out at 12.3%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $3,141 and 247 sunny days; commutes average 27 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Santa Cruz on Santa Cruz wages.
Santa Cruz → Los Angeles →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Santa Cruz than Los Angeles?
A one-bedroom is about $2,273 in Los Angeles versus $2,638 in Santa Cruz. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $693 a month lower in Santa Cruz. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Santa Cruz have state income tax?
Santa Cruz is in California, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz?
Take-home pay is recalculated under California 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 Los Angeles and Santa Cruz 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.