Paducah vs Elizabethtown leftover
You'd keep $228 more a month in Elizabethtown
$2,460/mo leftover in Elizabethtown vs $2,232 in Paducah after tax and rent ($228 more). +$2,736 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Paducah leftover
$2,232
a month after tax and rent
Elizabethtown leftover
$2,460
+$228 vs Paducah
Compare Paducah to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Paducah.
Monthly gap
Paducah → Elizabethtown
$228
more / month in Elizabethtown
$2,460 in Elizabethtown · $2,232 in Paducah · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
+$228 / mo
| Per month | Paducah | Elizabethtown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,625 | $7,140 | +$515 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,619 | $1,800 | +$181 |
| Take-home pay | $5,006 | $5,340 | +$334 |
| Rent | $821 | $942 | +$121 |
| Getting around | $589 | $569 | −$20 |
| Groceries | $376 | $378 | +$2 |
| Healthcare | $423 | $425 | +$2 |
| Utilities | $235 | $236 | +$1 |
| Everything else | $329 | $330 | +$1 |
| Left over | $2,232 | $2,460 | +$228 |
To break even in Elizabethtown, you'd need to earn
$81,500
Household gross, versus $79,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Paducah does now.
The tax difference alone
−$340
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Paducah, 25.2% in Elizabethtown.
More about Elizabethtown
Paducah, KY in full
A flat 4% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $977 and 222 sunny days; commutes average 20 minutes.
Elizabethtown, KY in full
A flat 4% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,121 and 197 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Elizabethtown on Elizabethtown wages.
Elizabethtown → Paducah →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Elizabethtown than Paducah?
A one-bedroom is about $821 in Paducah versus $942 in Elizabethtown. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $228 a month higher in Elizabethtown. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Elizabethtown have state income tax?
Elizabethtown is in Kentucky, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.50%.
What changes if you move from Paducah to Elizabethtown?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Kentucky 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 Paducah and Elizabethtown 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.