Phoenix, AZ → San Jose, CA
Moving to San Jose costs you $634 a month
−$7,608 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 578 households moved Phoenix → San Jose (avg AGI $116,773). 723 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Phoenix | San Jose | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $10,632 | +$3,049 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,709 | $3,127 | +$1,418 |
| Take-home pay | $5,875 | $7,506 | +$1,631 |
| Rent | $1,276 | $2,990 | +$1,714 |
| Getting around | $586 | $746 | +$160 |
| Groceries | $396 | $504 | +$108 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $567 | +$121 |
| Utilities | $248 | $315 | +$67 |
| Everything else | $347 | $441 | +$94 |
| Left over | $2,577 | $1,943 | −$634 |
To break even in San Jose, you'd need to earn
$140,500
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
−$5,983
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.5% in Phoenix, 29.4% in San Jose.
More about San Jose
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
San Jose, CA in full
The highest salaries in the country, almost entirely cancelled out by the highest rents.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from San Jose on San Jose wages.
San Jose → 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.