Seattle, WA → San Jose, CA
Moving to San Jose costs you $1,464 a month
−$17,568 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 1,357 households moved Seattle → San Jose (avg AGI $219,257). 1,707 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Seattle | San Jose | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $9,375 | $10,625 | +$1,250 |
| Income and payroll tax | $2,081 | $3,124 | +$1,043 |
| Take-home pay | $7,294 | $7,501 | +$207 |
| Rent | $1,761 | $2,990 | +$1,229 |
| Getting around | $493 | $746 | +$253 |
| Groceries | $452 | $504 | +$52 |
| Healthcare | $508 | $567 | +$59 |
| Utilities | $283 | $315 | +$32 |
| Everything else | $395 | $441 | +$46 |
| Left over | $3,402 | $1,938 | −$1,464 |
To break even in San Jose, you'd need to earn
$157,000
Household gross, versus $112,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Seattle does now.
The tax difference alone
−$7,885
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.2% in Seattle, 29.4% in San Jose.
More about San Jose
Seattle, WA in full
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
San Jose, CA in full
The highest salaries in the country, almost entirely cancelled out by the highest rents.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from San Jose on San Jose wages.
San Jose → Seattle →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.