On a $75,000 remote salary, a single renter keeps $33,353 a year in McAllen, Texas after 2026 taxes, rent and everyday costs — and $1,403 in New York City. Same pay, same federal tax, a $31,950 difference. If your job does not tie you to an office, that gap is the financial case for choosing where to live on purpose.
The ranking uses MoveMath’s tool defaults: one adult earning $75,000, renting a one-bedroom at HUD Fiscal Year 2027 Fair Market Rent (HUD’s 40th-percentile gross rent, utilities included), one car at 12,000 miles a year, the USDA Moderate-Cost food plan (August 2026), and $500 a month each of other goods and services at US prices scaled by BEA’s 2024 Regional Price Parities. The other-spending line is an editable estimate, not measured data.
What $75,000 leaves in 12 metros
| Metro | 1-BR Fair Market Rent | BEA price level (US = 100) | Left over per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen, TX | $806 | 85.9 | $33,353 | $2,779 |
| El Paso, TX | $969 | 89.9 | $31,397 | $2,616 |
| Wichita, KS | $823 | 88.9 | $29,751 | $2,479 |
| Austin, TX | $1,530 | 98.1 | $24,665 | $2,055 |
| Nashville, TN | $1,650 | 96.3 | $22,641 | $1,887 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $1,493 | 103.3 | $22,455 | $1,871 |
| Charlotte, NC-SC | $1,640 | 97.3 | $20,461 | $1,705 |
| Denver, CO | $1,831 | 105.8 | $17,164 | $1,430 |
| Seattle, WA | $2,180 | 111.1 | $13,238 | $1,103 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $2,402 | 113.6 | $7,380 | $615 |
| New York, NY-NJ | $2,729 | 112.6 | $1,403 | $117 |
| San Francisco, CA | $3,003 | 115.6 | −$158 | −$13 |
Sources: HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents (91 FR 56156); BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; 2026 taxes from the MoveMath engine, including New York City’s income tax and California’s disability insurance.
San Francisco is one of only two metros of 387 where this household ends the year below zero; Santa Cruz, California is the other. New York is barely positive. Rank every metro for your own income with where can I afford to live, or limit it to large metros with the 1 million-plus filter.
What drives the gap
Rent is the biggest lever. San Francisco’s one-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $3,003 a month; McAllen’s is $806. That is $26,364 a year.
State and local income tax is the second. Nine states do not tax wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. At $75,000, a San Francisco renter pays $2,665 of California income tax plus $975 of state disability insurance; in Austin both are zero. New York City adds a resident income tax ($2,472 at this income) to New York State’s $3,453.
Price levels are the third. BEA’s index covers goods, rents, utilities and other services. McAllen’s 85.9 means prices about 14% below the national average; San Francisco’s 115.6 means about 16% above. MoveMath uses the goods and other-services components to scale food and other spending, and HUD rents rather than the rent index for housing.
The best large metros
Among the 56 metros with at least 1 million people, the top five for this household are San Antonio ($28,673 a year), Tulsa ($28,142), Memphis ($28,139), Oklahoma City ($27,746) and Tucson ($27,376). The bottom five are Boston ($7,600), Los Angeles ($7,380), San Jose ($3,284), New York ($1,403) and San Francisco (−$158).
Wichita, Kansas ranks 14th of the 172 metros with at least 300,000 people, at $29,751, even though Kansas taxes wages: its $823 one-bedroom rent outweighs the $3,385 state income tax.
Taxes when your employer is elsewhere
Living in a no-tax state does not always end your old state’s claim. New York, for example, treats a nonresident’s telecommuting days as New York workdays when the employee’s primary office is in New York, unless the employer has established a bona fide employer office at the home location (New York Department of Taxation FAQ). Confirm the rules for both your employer’s state and your new home state before you move.
Trade-offs the numbers do not show
Cheaper metros usually have lower local wages; the Census ACS 2020–2024 median household income is $66,401 in Memphis against $90,887 in Chicago, for example. If your remote job ended, a local replacement might pay less. Climate, family, schools and health care access also matter and are outside the budget.
Use the ranking to price those choices. If living in Denver rather than Austin costs this household $7,501 a year, you can decide whether that is worth it. Compare any two metros directly with the cost of living calculator, and see full budgets on the Wichita, Austin and Nashville pages.