Raleigh vs Hickory leftover
Moving to Hickory costs you $640 a month
$2,097/mo leftover in Hickory vs $2,737 in Raleigh after tax and rent ($640 less). −$7,680 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Raleigh leftover
$2,737
a month after tax and rent
Hickory leftover
$2,097
−$640 vs Raleigh
Compare Raleigh to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Raleigh.
Monthly gap
Raleigh → Hickory
$640
less / month in Raleigh
$2,097 in Hickory · $2,737 in Raleigh · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 126 households moved Raleigh → Hickory (avg AGI $85,968). 126 went the other way. The whole move →
−$640 / mo
| Per month | Raleigh | Hickory | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,875 | $6,799 | −$1,076 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,926 | $1,561 | −$365 |
| Take-home pay | $5,949 | $5,238 | −$711 |
| Rent | $1,252 | $1,142 | −$110 |
| Getting around | $568 | $605 | +$37 |
| Groceries | $384 | $385 | +$1 |
| Healthcare | $432 | $433 | +$1 |
| Utilities | $240 | $241 | +$1 |
| Everything else | $336 | $337 | +$1 |
| Left over | $2,737 | $2,097 | −$640 |
To break even in Hickory, you'd need to earn
$93,000
Household gross, versus $94,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Raleigh does now.
The tax difference alone
+$549
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.5% in Raleigh, 23.0% in Hickory.
More about Hickory
Raleigh, NC in full
Research Triangle salaries, low taxes, and not much to do downtown.
Hickory, NC in full
A flat 4.25% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,360 and 223 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Hickory on Hickory wages.
Hickory → Raleigh →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Hickory than Raleigh?
A one-bedroom is about $1,252 in Raleigh versus $1,142 in Hickory. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $640 a month lower in Hickory. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Hickory have state income tax?
Hickory is in North Carolina, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Raleigh to Hickory?
Take-home pay is recalculated under North Carolina tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Raleigh and Hickory moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
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.