Tucson, AZ → Phoenix, AZ
You'd keep $59 more a month in Phoenix
+$708 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 4,034 households moved Tucson → Phoenix (avg AGI $64,520). 3,473 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Tucson | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,958 | $7,584 | +$626 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,508 | $1,709 | +$201 |
| Take-home pay | $5,450 | $5,875 | +$424 |
| Rent | $1,022 | $1,276 | +$254 |
| Getting around | $547 | $586 | +$39 |
| Groceries | $376 | $396 | +$20 |
| Healthcare | $423 | $446 | +$23 |
| Utilities | $235 | $248 | +$13 |
| Everything else | $329 | $347 | +$18 |
| Left over | $2,518 | $2,577 | +$59 |
To break even in Phoenix, you'd need to earn
$90,000
Household gross, versus $83,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Tucson does now.
The tax difference alone
−$188
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 21.7% in Tucson, 22.5% in Phoenix.
More about Phoenix
Tucson, AZ in full
Phoenix weather and hiking at a serious discount, on lower wages.
Phoenix, AZ in full
A 2.5% flat income tax, cheap housing for a big metro, and a genuinely dangerous July.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Phoenix on Phoenix wages.
Phoenix → Tucson →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.