Springfield vs St. Louis leftover
You'd keep $110 more a month in St. Louis
$2,639/mo leftover in St. Louis vs $2,529 in Springfield after tax and rent ($110 more). +$1,320 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Springfield leftover
$2,529
a month after tax and rent
St. Louis leftover
$2,639
+$110 vs Springfield
Compare Springfield to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Springfield.
Monthly gap
Springfield → St. Louis
$110
more / month in St. Louis
$2,639 in St. Louis · $2,529 in Springfield · 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, 418 households moved Springfield → St. Louis (avg AGI $57,828). 369 went the other way. The whole move →
+$110 / mo
| Per month | Springfield | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,708 | $7,549 | +$841 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,528 | $1,892 | +$364 |
| Take-home pay | $5,180 | $5,656 | +$476 |
| Rent | $865 | $1,138 | +$273 |
| Getting around | $518 | $545 | +$27 |
| Groceries | $350 | $368 | +$18 |
| Healthcare | $394 | $414 | +$20 |
| Utilities | $219 | $230 | +$11 |
| Everything else | $306 | $322 | +$16 |
| Left over | $2,529 | $2,639 | +$110 |
To break even in St. Louis, you'd need to earn
$88,500
Household gross, versus $80,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Springfield does now.
The tax difference alone
−$1,380
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 22.8% in Springfield, 25.1% in St. Louis.
More about St. Louis
Springfield, MO in full
State income tax topping out at 4.7%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,030 and 219 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
St. Louis, MO in full
The lowest home prices of any metro over 2 million people.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from St. Louis on St. Louis wages.
St. Louis → Springfield →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in St. Louis than Springfield?
A one-bedroom is about $865 in Springfield versus $1,138 in St. Louis. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $110 a month higher in St. Louis. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does St. Louis have state income tax?
St. Louis is in Missouri, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Springfield to St. Louis?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Missouri 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 Springfield and St. Louis 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.