Phoenix, AZ → Raleigh, NC
You'd keep $177 more a month in Raleigh
+$2,124 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 324 households moved Phoenix → Raleigh (avg AGI $93,216). 157 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Raleigh | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,896 | +$313 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $1,933 | +$224 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,963 | +$89 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,249 | −$27 |
| Getting around | $586 | $568 | −$18 |
| Groceries | $396 | $384 | −$12 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $432 | −$14 |
| Utilities | $248 | $240 | −$8 |
| Everything else | $347 | $336 | −$11 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,754 | +$177 |
To break even in Raleigh, you'd need to earn
$91,500
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
−$1,575
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 24.5% in Raleigh.
More about Raleigh
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Raleigh, NC in full
Research Triangle salaries, low taxes, and not much to do downtown.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Raleigh on Raleigh wages.
Raleigh → 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.