Phoenix, AZ → Milwaukee, WI
You'd keep $57 more a month in Milwaukee
+$684 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 450 households moved Phoenix → Milwaukee (avg AGI $67,076). 721 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Milwaukee | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,662 | +$78 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,887 | +$179 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,774 | −$100 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,245 | −$31 |
| Getting around | $586 | $503 | −$83 |
| Groceries | $396 | $384 | −$12 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $432 | −$14 |
| Utilities | $248 | $240 | −$8 |
| Everything else | $347 | $336 | −$11 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,634 | +$57 |
To break even in Milwaukee, you'd need to earn
$91,000
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
−$1,865
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 24.6% in Milwaukee.
More about Milwaukee
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Milwaukee, WI in full
Lake Michigan summers, cheap housing, and a 1.5% property tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Milwaukee on Milwaukee wages.
Milwaukee → 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.