Philadelphia vs Lancaster leftover
Moving to Lancaster costs you $74 a month
$2,360/mo leftover in Lancaster vs $2,434 in Philadelphia after tax and rent ($74 less). −$888 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Philadelphia leftover
$2,434
a month after tax and rent
Lancaster leftover
$2,360
−$74 vs Philadelphia
Compare Philadelphia to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Philadelphia.
Monthly gap
Philadelphia → Lancaster
$74
less / month in Philadelphia
$2,360 in Lancaster · $2,434 in Philadelphia · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 1,790 households moved Philadelphia → Lancaster (avg AGI $71,360). 1,421 went the other way. The whole move →
−$74 / mo
| Per month | Philadelphia | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,125 | $7,383 | −$742 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,264 | $1,791 | −$474 |
| Take-home pay | $5,861 | $5,592 | −$268 |
| Rent | $1,530 | $1,217 | −$313 |
| Getting around | $418 | $561 | +$143 |
| Groceries | $408 | $401 | −$7 |
| Healthcare | $459 | $451 | −$8 |
| Utilities | $255 | $251 | −$4 |
| Everything else | $357 | $351 | −$6 |
| Left over | $2,434 | $2,360 | −$74 |
To break even in Lancaster, you'd need to earn
$90,000
Household gross, versus $97,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Philadelphia does now.
The tax difference alone
+$3,044
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 27.9% in Philadelphia, 24.3% in Lancaster.
More about Lancaster
Philadelphia, PA in full
East Coast density at half of Boston's rent, minus a 3.75% city wage tax.
Lancaster, PA in full
A flat 3.07% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,449 and 194 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Lancaster on Lancaster wages.
Lancaster → Philadelphia →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Lancaster than Philadelphia?
A one-bedroom is about $1,530 in Philadelphia versus $1,217 in Lancaster. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $74 a month lower in Lancaster. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Lancaster have state income tax?
Lancaster is in Pennsylvania, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Philadelphia to Lancaster?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Pennsylvania 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 Philadelphia and Lancaster 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.