Phoenix, AZ → Columbus, OH
You'd keep $69 more a month in Columbus
+$828 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 365 households moved Phoenix → Columbus (avg AGI $72,523). 372 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,583 | $0 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,888 | +$179 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,695 | −$179 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,174 | −$102 |
| Getting around | $586 | $526 | −$60 |
| Groceries | $396 | $372 | −$24 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $419 | −$27 |
| Utilities | $248 | $233 | −$15 |
| Everything else | $347 | $326 | −$21 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,646 | +$69 |
To break even in Columbus, you'd need to earn
$89,500
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
−$2,151
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 24.9% in Columbus.
More about Columbus
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Columbus, OH in full
The most affordable large metro with a growing white-collar job base.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Columbus on Columbus wages.
Columbus → 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.