San Diego, CA → Colorado Springs, CO
You'd keep $750 more a month in Colorado Springs
+$9,000 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 361 households moved San Diego → Colorado Springs (avg AGI $66,161). 207 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | San Diego | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,500 | $7,408 | −$1,092 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,281 | $1,770 | −$511 |
| Take-home pay | $6,219 | $5,638 | −$581 |
| Rent | $2,291 | $1,301 | −$990 |
| Getting around | $650 | $571 | −$79 |
| Groceries | $468 | $396 | −$72 |
| Healthcare | $527 | $446 | −$81 |
| Utilities | $293 | $248 | −$45 |
| Everything else | $410 | $347 | −$63 |
| Left over | $1,581 | $2,331 | +$750 |
To break even in Colorado Springs, you'd need to earn
$75,500
Household gross, versus $102,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as San Diego does now.
The tax difference alone
+$2,244
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.8% in San Diego, 23.9% in Colorado Springs.
More about Colorado Springs
San Diego, CA in full
The best climate in the country and rents that know it.
Colorado Springs, CO in full
Denver's mountains and sunshine, with the lowest property tax on this list.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Colorado Springs on Colorado Springs wages.
Colorado Springs → San Diego →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.