Scranton vs Philadelphia leftover
You'd keep $220 more a month in Philadelphia
$2,420/mo leftover in Philadelphia vs $2,200 in Scranton after tax and rent ($220 more). +$2,640 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Scranton leftover
$2,200
a month after tax and rent
Philadelphia leftover
$2,420
+$220 vs Scranton
Compare Scranton to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Scranton.
Monthly gap
Scranton → Philadelphia
$220
more / month in Philadelphia
$2,420 in Philadelphia · $2,200 in Scranton · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 716 households moved Scranton → Philadelphia (avg AGI $64,387). 508 went the other way. The whole move →
+$220 / mo
| Per month | Scranton | Philadelphia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,958 | $8,104 | +$1,145 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,648 | $2,257 | +$609 |
| Take-home pay | $5,311 | $5,847 | +$536 |
| Rent | $1,070 | $1,530 | +$460 |
| Getting around | $586 | $418 | −$168 |
| Groceries | $401 | $408 | +$7 |
| Healthcare | $451 | $459 | +$8 |
| Utilities | $251 | $255 | +$4 |
| Everything else | $351 | $357 | +$6 |
| Left over | $2,200 | $2,420 | +$220 |
To break even in Philadelphia, you'd need to earn
$93,000
Household gross, versus $83,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Scranton does now.
The tax difference alone
−$3,234
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.7% in Scranton, 27.8% in Philadelphia.
More about Philadelphia
Scranton, PA in full
A flat 3.07% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,274 and 188 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
Philadelphia, PA in full
East Coast density at half of Boston's rent, minus a 3.75% city wage tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Philadelphia on Philadelphia wages.
Philadelphia → Scranton →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Philadelphia than Scranton?
A one-bedroom is about $1,070 in Scranton versus $1,530 in Philadelphia. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $220 a month higher in Philadelphia. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Philadelphia have state income tax?
Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 3.75%.
What changes if you move from Scranton to Philadelphia?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Pennsylvania 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.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Scranton and Philadelphia moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
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.