Madison, WI → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $50 a month
−$600 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 174 households moved Madison → Phoenix (avg AGI $80,477). 160 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Madison | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,792 | $7,558 | −$234 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,933 | $1,701 | −$232 |
| Take-home pay | $5,859 | $5,857 | −$1 |
| Rent | $1,335 | $1,276 | −$59 |
| Getting around | $509 | $586 | +$77 |
| Groceries | $388 | $396 | +$8 |
| Healthcare | $437 | $446 | +$9 |
| Utilities | $243 | $248 | +$5 |
| Everything else | $340 | $347 | +$7 |
| Left over | $2,609 | $2,559 | −$50 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$91,500
Household gross, versus $93,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Madison does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,955
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.8% in Madison, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Madison, WI in full
A university town with big-city wages and small-city commutes.
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 → Madison →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.