New York, NY → Memphis, TN
You'd keep $1,532 more a month in Memphis
+$18,384 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 127 households moved New York → Memphis (avg AGI $76,134). 117 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | New York | Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,292 | $7,105 | −$2,186 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,886 | $1,408 | −$1,479 |
| Take-home pay | $6,405 | $5,697 | −$708 |
| Rent | $3,021 | $1,058 | −$1,963 |
| Getting around | $347 | $548 | +$201 |
| Groceries | $496 | $364 | −$132 |
| Healthcare | $558 | $410 | −$148 |
| Utilities | $310 | $228 | −$82 |
| Everything else | $434 | $319 | −$115 |
| Left over | $1,239 | $2,771 | +$1,532 |
To break even in Memphis, you'd need to earn
$59,500
Household gross, versus $111,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as New York does now.
The tax difference alone
+$9,963
A year, in state and local income tax. Tennessee has no wage income tax.
More about Memphis
New York, NY in full
The one place where skipping a car genuinely offsets the rent.
Memphis, TN in full
No income tax and a logistics economy; wages trail the national median.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Memphis on Memphis wages.
Memphis → New York →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.