Phoenix, AZ → El Paso, TX
Moving to El Paso costs you $15 a month
−$180 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 454 households moved Phoenix → El Paso (avg AGI $47,705). 558 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $6,645 | −$938 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,271 | −$437 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,374 | −$501 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $995 | −$281 |
| Getting around | $586 | $527 | −$59 |
| Groceries | $396 | $356 | −$40 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $401 | −$45 |
| Utilities | $248 | $223 | −$25 |
| Everything else | $347 | $312 | −$35 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,562 | −$15 |
To break even in El Paso, you'd need to earn
$80,000
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
+$1,910
A year, in state and local income tax. Texas has no wage income tax.
More about El Paso
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
El Paso, TX in full
297 sunny days and the lowest rents in Texas, on the lowest wages.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from El Paso on El Paso wages.
El Paso → 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.