San Jose, CA → Houston, TX
You'd keep $1,218 more a month in Houston
+$14,616 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 498 households moved San Jose → Houston (avg AGI $152,046). 532 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | San Jose | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $10,625 | $7,969 | −$2,656 |
| Income and payroll tax | $3,124 | $1,664 | −$1,460 |
| Take-home pay | $7,501 | $6,305 | −$1,196 |
| Rent | $2,990 | $1,199 | −$1,791 |
| Getting around | $746 | $572 | −$174 |
| Groceries | $504 | $380 | −$124 |
| Healthcare | $567 | $428 | −$139 |
| Utilities | $315 | $238 | −$77 |
| Everything else | $441 | $333 | −$108 |
| Left over | $1,938 | $3,156 | +$1,218 |
To break even in Houston, you'd need to earn
$75,000
Household gross, versus $127,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as San Jose does now.
The tax difference alone
+$7,885
A year, in state and local income tax. Texas has no wage income tax.
More about Houston
San Jose, CA in full
The highest salaries in the country, almost entirely cancelled out by the highest rents.
Houston, TX in full
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Houston on Houston wages.
Houston → San Jose →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.