Memphis, TN → Houston, TX
You'd keep $379 more a month in Houston
+$4,548 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 455 households moved Memphis → Houston (avg AGI $60,141). 240 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Memphis | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,083 | $7,940 | +$856 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,401 | $1,655 | +$254 |
| Take-home pay | $5,682 | $6,284 | +$602 |
| Rent | $1,058 | $1,199 | +$141 |
| Getting around | $548 | $572 | +$24 |
| Groceries | $364 | $380 | +$16 |
| Healthcare | $410 | $428 | +$18 |
| Utilities | $228 | $238 | +$10 |
| Everything else | $319 | $333 | +$14 |
| Left over | $2,756 | $3,135 | +$379 |
To break even in Houston, you'd need to earn
$89,000
Household gross, versus $85,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Memphis does now.
The tax difference alone
$0
A year, in state and local income tax. Texas has no wage income tax.
More about Houston
Memphis, TN in full
No income tax and a logistics economy; wages trail the national median.
Houston, TX in full
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Houston on Houston wages.
Houston → Memphis →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.