Louisville, KY → Atlanta, GA
You'd keep $14 more a month in Atlanta
+$168 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 209 households moved Louisville → Atlanta (avg AGI $76,703). 171 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Louisville | Atlanta | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,333 | $7,879 | +$546 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,919 | $1,994 | +$75 |
| Take-home pay | $5,414 | $5,885 | +$471 |
| Rent | $1,064 | $1,399 | +$335 |
| Getting around | $545 | $580 | +$35 |
| Groceries | $368 | $392 | +$24 |
| Healthcare | $414 | $441 | +$27 |
| Utilities | $230 | $245 | +$15 |
| Everything else | $322 | $343 | +$21 |
| Left over | $2,471 | $2,485 | +$14 |
To break even in Atlanta, you'd need to earn
$94,500
Household gross, versus $88,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Louisville does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,041
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.2% in Louisville, 25.3% in Atlanta.
More about Atlanta
Louisville, KY in full
Cheap, central, and warmer than the rest of the Midwest.
Atlanta, GA in full
Big-city pay at mid-market housing costs, with a 31-minute average commute.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Atlanta on Atlanta wages.
Atlanta → Louisville →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.