A single renter earning $70,000 in New York City needs only $41,217 in Austin, Texas to end the year with the same money left over after 2026 taxes, rent and everyday costs — 41.1% less pay. At the same $70,000, the New York budget runs $1,629 short while Austin leaves $21,148. That recurring gap is the real cost (or saving) of a move. The truck, deposits and travel are one-time costs that no official dataset publishes, so price them from quotes.
The example uses MoveMath’s standard moving-page household: one adult, renting a one-bedroom at HUD Fiscal Year 2027 Fair Market Rent, one car driven 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg, the USDA Moderate-Cost food plan (August 2026 report), and $500 a month each of other goods and other services at US-average prices. That last item is an adjustable estimate scaled by BEA Regional Price Parities, not measured data.
The two kinds of moving cost
| Cost | Examples | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| One-time | Movers or truck, travel, security deposit, a month of overlapping rent | Your quotes and lease |
| Recurring | Income taxes, rent, food, fuel, sales tax, other spending | The relocation budget planner |
One-time costs are paid once; a change in recurring costs repeats every year you stay. That is why the budget comparison below matters more than the moving bill for most households.
New York vs Austin, line by line
Single adult, $70,000, renting a one-bedroom at HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rent (annual figures, 2026 taxes):
| Budget line | New York, NY-NJ | Austin, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $6,570 | $6,570 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $5,355 | $5,355 |
| State income tax | $3,183 | $0 |
| NY disability + paid family leave | $334 | $0 |
| New York City income tax | $2,278 | $0 |
| Total taxes | $17,720 | $11,925 |
| Rent, 1-bedroom FMR | $32,748 ($2,729/mo) | $18,360 ($1,530/mo) |
| Food (USDA Moderate-Cost × local goods prices) | $5,829 | $4,956 |
| Gasoline | $2,102 | $1,860 |
| Other goods and services (estimate) | $12,966 | $11,400 |
| State sales tax | $265 | $352 |
| Left over | −$1,629 | $21,148 |
Sources: HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents (91 FR 56156, effective October 1, 2026); USDA food plans, August 2026; BEA RPP 2024; EIA weekly gasoline prices, week of October 5, 2026; 2026 tax liability from the MoveMath engine. Lines may not sum exactly because of rounding.
Rent explains $14,388 of the $22,777 difference, and taxes another $5,795. New York’s rent is the Kings County (Brooklyn) figure; all five boroughs share one HUD rent area. Fair Market Rent is HUD’s 40th-percentile gross rent, including tenant-paid utilities, for standard-quality units — not a median and not a listing price. Prices for goods and services also differ: BEA puts New York at 112.6 and Austin at 98.1 (US = 100) for 2024.
What salary you need after the move
The cost of living calculator solves for the pay that keeps your annual surplus unchanged:
| Move | Household | Pay now | Pay needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York → Austin | Single renter | $70,000 | $41,217 |
| New York → Austin | Two adults, a preschooler and a school-age child, two cars | $120,000 | $79,088 |
| San Francisco → Austin | Single renter | $120,000 | $78,047 |
Both New York rows also appear on the New York to Austin moving page. For San Francisco, use the calculator with that scenario. The solved pay is a break-even line, not a fair-pay benchmark: anything above it leaves you better off than before.
Budgeting the one-time costs
- Movers. Interstate household-goods movers must be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Look up a mover’s USDOT number on FMCSA’s SAFER system before you sign, and get written estimates from several companies.
- Lease costs. Expect a security deposit and the first month’s rent at signing. For an Austin one-bedroom at Fair Market Rent, one month is $1,530.
- Overlap. If your old and new leases overlap by a month, the example renter pays $2,729 in New York plus $1,530 in Austin for that month.
Taxes in the year you move
You will usually file part-year resident returns in both states for the move year. Texas has no tax on wages, so a New York-to-Texas mover files only in New York for the months lived there. The rules for sourcing income and claiming credits differ by state; see whether you pay tax in two states the year you move.
The federal moving-expense deduction is gone for nearly everyone. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended it for 2018–2025 for everyone except active-duty military moving under orders. Section 70113 of P.L. 119-21 (the 2025 tax law) made that suspension permanent and added one more exception: employees and new appointees of the intelligence community who relocate because of a change in assignment (26 U.S.C. 217(k); IRS Topic 455). Employer-paid moving costs are taxable wages for everyone else (IRS Publication 15-B), so ask whether a relocation package is “grossed up” to cover the tax.
How fast a move pays for itself
In the New York–Austin example, the same $70,000 salary leaves $22,777 more a year in Austin, or about $1,898 a month. One-time moving costs below that amount are recovered within the first year at the same pay. The reverse also holds: a move to a pricier metro without a raise costs you the gap every year.
To run your own numbers, enter your household and destination in the relocation budget planner, then compare two metros side by side with the cost of living calculator.