San Diego, CA → Sacramento, CA
You'd keep $538 more a month in Sacramento
+$6,456 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 1,122 households moved San Diego → Sacramento (avg AGI $80,502). 1,396 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | San Diego | Sacramento | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $8,500 | $8,032 | −$468 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,281 | $2,099 | −$182 |
| Take-home pay | $6,219 | $5,933 | −$286 |
| Rent | $2,291 | $1,677 | −$614 |
| Getting around | $650 | $600 | −$50 |
| Groceries | $468 | $424 | −$44 |
| Healthcare | $527 | $477 | −$50 |
| Utilities | $293 | $265 | −$28 |
| Everything else | $410 | $371 | −$39 |
| Left over | $1,581 | $2,119 | +$538 |
To break even in Sacramento, you'd need to earn
$86,000
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
+$522
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.8% in San Diego, 26.1% in Sacramento.
More about Sacramento
San Diego, CA in full
The best climate in the country and rents that know it.
Sacramento, CA in full
Bay Area access at two-thirds the rent, with California's tax bill intact.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Sacramento on Sacramento wages.
Sacramento → 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.