Salt Lake City, UT → Phoenix, AZ
You'd keep $9 more a month in Phoenix
+$108 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 741 households moved Salt Lake City → Phoenix (avg AGI $102,547). 628 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Salt Lake City | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,708 | $7,553 | −$156 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,937 | $1,699 | −$239 |
| Take-home pay | $5,771 | $5,854 | +$83 |
| Rent | $1,269 | $1,276 | +$7 |
| Getting around | $519 | $586 | +$67 |
| Groceries | $396 | $396 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $446 | $0 |
| Utilities | $248 | $248 | $0 |
| Everything else | $347 | $347 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,547 | $2,556 | +$9 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$90,500
Household gross, versus $92,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Salt Lake City does now.
The tax difference alone
+$2,308
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Salt Lake City, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Salt Lake City, UT in full
Four ski resorts inside an hour and a 23-minute average commute.
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 → Salt Lake City →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.