Moving from San Francisco to Cleveland
You'd keep $270 more a month in Cleveland
+$3,240 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
San Francisco leftover
$2,380
a month after tax and rent
Cleveland leftover
$2,650
+$270 vs San Francisco
In 2022-2023, 80 households moved San Francisco → Cleveland (avg AGI $122,888). 117 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | San Francisco | Cleveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $10,458 | $7,415 | −$3,044 |
| Income and payroll tax | $3,056 | $1,829 | −$1,226 |
| Take-home pay | $7,403 | $5,585 | −$1,817 |
| Rent | $2,609 | $1,100 | −$1,509 |
| Getting around | $558 | $515 | −$43 |
| Groceries | $512 | $364 | −$148 |
| Healthcare | $576 | $410 | −$166 |
| Utilities | $320 | $228 | −$92 |
| Everything else | $448 | $319 | −$129 |
| Left over | $2,380 | $2,650 | +$270 |
To break even in Cleveland, you'd need to earn
$84,000
Household gross, versus $125,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as San Francisco does now.
The tax difference alone
+$3,744
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 29.2% in San Francisco, 24.7% in Cleveland.
More about Cleveland
San Francisco, CA in full
Dense, walkable, cold in July, and priced for two incomes.
Cleveland, OH in full
World-class hospitals and an orchestra, at the lowest rents of any large metro.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Cleveland on Cleveland wages.
Cleveland → San Francisco →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Cleveland than San Francisco?
A one-bedroom is about $2,609 in San Francisco versus $1,100 in Cleveland. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $270 a month higher in Cleveland. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Cleveland have state income tax?
Cleveland is in Ohio, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 2.50%.
What changes if you move from San Francisco to Cleveland?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Ohio 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.
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.