Phoenix, AZ → Sacramento, CA
Moving to Sacramento costs you $445 a month
−$5,340 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 582 households moved Phoenix → Sacramento (avg AGI $80,395). 815 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | Sacramento | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $8,052 | +$469 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $2,107 | +$398 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $5,946 | +$71 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $1,677 | +$401 |
| Getting around | $586 | $600 | +$14 |
| Groceries | $396 | $424 | +$28 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $477 | +$31 |
| Utilities | $248 | $265 | +$17 |
| Everything else | $347 | $371 | +$24 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $2,132 | −$445 |
To break even in Sacramento, you'd need to earn
$105,500
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
−$3,104
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 26.2% in Sacramento.
More about Sacramento
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
Sacramento, CA in full
Bay Area access at two-thirds the rent, with California's tax bill intact.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Sacramento on Sacramento wages.
Sacramento → 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.