Phoenix, AZ → Cleveland, OH
You'd keep $82 more a month in Cleveland
+$984 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 270 households moved Phoenix → Cleveland (avg AGI $88,878). 380 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Cleveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,427 | −$156 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,833 | +$125 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,594 | −$281 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,100 | −$176 |
| Getting around | $586 | $515 | −$71 |
| Groceries | $396 | $364 | −$32 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $410 | −$36 |
| Utilities | $248 | $228 | −$20 |
| Everything else | $347 | $319 | −$28 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,659 | +$82 |
To break even in Cleveland, you'd need to earn
$87,500
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Phoenix does now.
The tax difference alone
−$2,053
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 24.7% in Cleveland.
More about Cleveland
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Cleveland, OH in full
World-class hospitals and an orchestra, at the lowest rents of any large metro.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Cleveland on Cleveland wages.
Cleveland → Phoenix →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.