Phoenix, AZ → Des Moines, IA
You'd keep $320 more a month in Des Moines
+$3,840 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 214 households moved Phoenix → Des Moines (avg AGI $74,818). 269 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,505 | −$78 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,765 | +$57 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,740 | −$135 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,005 | −$271 |
| Getting around | $586 | $533 | −$53 |
| Groceries | $396 | $360 | −$36 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $405 | −$41 |
| Utilities | $248 | $225 | −$23 |
| Everything else | $347 | $315 | −$32 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,897 | +$320 |
To break even in Des Moines, you'd need to earn
$84,500
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
−$958
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 23.5% in Des Moines.
More about Des Moines
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Des Moines, IA in full
Insurance-sector wages against the lowest housing costs on this list.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Des Moines on Des Moines wages.
Des Moines → 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.