Raleigh, NC → Phoenix, AZ
Moving to Phoenix costs you $177 a month
−$2,124 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 157 households moved Raleigh → Phoenix (avg AGI $91,038). 324 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Raleigh | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,875 | $7,563 | −$312 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,926 | $1,702 | −$223 |
| Take-home pay | $5,949 | $5,861 | −$89 |
| Rent | $1,249 | $1,276 | +$27 |
| Getting around | $568 | $586 | +$18 |
| Groceries | $384 | $396 | +$12 |
| Healthcare | $432 | $446 | +$14 |
| Utilities | $240 | $248 | +$8 |
| Everything else | $336 | $347 | +$11 |
| Left over | $2,740 | $2,563 | −$177 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$94,000
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
+$1,570
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.5% in Raleigh, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Raleigh, NC in full
Research Triangle salaries, low taxes, and not much to do downtown.
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Phoenix on Phoenix wages.
Phoenix → Raleigh →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.