Phoenix, AZ → Colorado Springs, CO
Moving to Colorado Springs costs you $234 a month
−$2,808 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 600 households moved Phoenix → Colorado Springs (avg AGI $70,598). 614 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,427 | −$156 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,777 | +$68 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,650 | −$224 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,301 | +$25 |
| Getting around | $586 | $571 | −$15 |
| Groceries | $396 | $396 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $446 | $0 |
| Utilities | $248 | $248 | $0 |
| Everything else | $347 | $347 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,343 | −$234 |
To break even in Colorado Springs, you'd need to earn
$93,500
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
−$1,369
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 23.9% in Colorado Springs.
More about Colorado Springs
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Colorado Springs, CO in full
Denver's mountains and sunshine, with the lowest property tax on this list.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Colorado Springs on Colorado Springs wages.
Colorado Springs → 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.