St. Louis, MO → Houston, TX
You'd keep $504 more a month in Houston
+$6,048 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
| Per month | St. Louis | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,583 | $7,974 | +$391 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,905 | $1,666 | −$239 |
| Take-home pay | $5,679 | $6,309 | +$630 |
| Rent | $1,144 | $1,199 | +$55 |
| Getting around | $545 | $572 | +$27 |
| Groceries | $368 | $380 | +$12 |
| Healthcare | $414 | $428 | +$14 |
| Utilities | $230 | $238 | +$8 |
| Everything else | $322 | $333 | +$11 |
| Left over | $2,656 | $3,160 | +$504 |
To break even in Houston, you'd need to earn
$87,000
Household gross, versus $91,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as St. Louis does now.
The tax difference alone
+$4,260
A year, in state and local income tax. Texas has no wage income tax.
St. Louis, MO in full
The lowest home prices of any metro over 2 million people.
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 → St. Louis →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.