San Jose, CA → Sacramento, CA
You'd keep $191 more a month in Sacramento
+$2,292 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 2,659 households moved San Jose → Sacramento (avg AGI $134,078). 1,437 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | San Jose | Sacramento | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $10,625 | $8,047 | −$2,578 |
| Income and payroll tax | $3,124 | $2,104 | −$1,019 |
| Take-home pay | $7,501 | $5,943 | −$1,559 |
| Rent | $2,990 | $1,677 | −$1,313 |
| Getting around | $746 | $600 | −$146 |
| Groceries | $504 | $424 | −$80 |
| Healthcare | $567 | $477 | −$90 |
| Utilities | $315 | $265 | −$50 |
| Everything else | $441 | $371 | −$70 |
| Left over | $1,938 | $2,129 | +$191 |
To break even in Sacramento, you'd need to earn
$93,000
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
+$2,877
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 29.4% in San Jose, 26.2% in Sacramento.
More about Sacramento
San Jose, CA in full
The highest salaries in the country, almost entirely cancelled out by the highest rents.
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 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.