2026 Relocation & Cost Arbitrage Engine

Relocation: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL

Data updated · Sources: HUD FY 2027 Fair Market Rents, EPI 2026 Family Budget, 2026 tax tables · Methodology

Income tax, HUD Fair Market Rents and EPI living costs for a move from New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL.

Popular Corridors:
Equivalent Salary
$56,500
To maintain parity
Cost of Living Delta
-43.5%
Overall expenditure basket
Annual Tax Delta
+$3,631
State + local taxes
Annual 1BR Rent Delta
-$19,500
HUD Fair Market Rents
Net Annual Buffer
+$23,131/yr
Tax + housing gain

Interactive Purchasing Power Equivalency Workbench

Adjust your current salary at origin to dynamically compute the statutory tax burden, housing costs, and discretionary cash in both markets.

Presets:
$
$30,000 $100,000 $200,000 $300,000
Origin Location

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

COL 181.0
Gross Annual Income $100,000
Federal Income Tax -$13,170
FICA (SS & Medicare) -$7,650
State Income Tax -$4,860
Local / City Tax -$3,441
Net Annual Take-Home $70,879
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent -$32,748
Discretionary Cash Flow $38,131
Target Market
Destination Location

St. Louis, MO-IL

COL 102.3
Gross Parity Income $56,500
Federal Income Tax -$4,600
FICA (SS & Medicare) -$4,322
State Income Tax -$1,686
Local / City Tax -$565
Net Annual Take-Home $45,327
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent -$13,248
Discretionary Cash Flow $32,079

EPI family budgets put living costs 43.5% lower in St. Louis, MO-IL than in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, so $100,000 in New York goes about as far as $56,500 in St. Louis. HUD's one-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $2,729 a month in New York and $1,104 in St. Louis, $19,500 a year less. On the same $100,000 salary a single filer pays $3,631 less a year in federal, state and local income tax and FICA in St. Louis. Taxes and one-bedroom rent together leave you about $23,131 a year better off. The BLS median wage across all occupations is $61,430 in New York and $49,990 in St. Louis.

Itemized Cost of Living Expenditure Arbitrage

Category-by-category breakdown of monthly baseline consumption between origin and destination.

Expenditure Category New York-Newark-Jersey City (Monthly) St. Louis (Monthly) Monthly Delta ($) Difference (%)
Housing (1BR Fair Market Rent)$2,729$1,104-$1,625-59.5%
Food & Groceries$426$373-$53-12.4%
Transportation$693$1,018+$325+46.9%
Healthcare$748$427-$321-42.9%
Other Necessities$879$411-$468-53.2%
Total Taxes (Federal, State, Local, FICA)$2,427$2,124-$303-12.5%

HUD Fair Market Rent Differential

1-Bedroom Fair Market Rent -$1,625/mo (-59.5%)
New York-Newark-Jersey City: $2,729/mo St. Louis: $1,104/mo
2-Bedroom Fair Market Rent -$1,622/mo (-54.6%)
New York-Newark-Jersey City: $2,971/mo St. Louis: $1,349/mo

EPI Living Wage Benchmark Comparison

1 Adult (No Children) -$17.40/hr (-43.5%)
New York-Newark-Jersey City: $40.03/hr St. Louis: $22.63/hr
2 Adults + 1 Child (per earner) -$13.12/hr (-38.4%)
New York-Newark-Jersey City: $34.19/hr St. Louis: $21.07/hr

Top Local Occupations Wage Parity

BLS median wage comparisons across benchmark roles between both metropolitan labor markets.

Occupation Title Industry Sector New York-Newark-Jersey City Median St. Louis Median Nominal Wage Delta Action
Registered Nurse (RN)HealthcareHealthcare$119,720$83,180-$36,540 (-30.5%)View Dossier
General and Operations ManagersFinance & ManagementFinance & Management$157,000$93,140-$63,860 (-40.7%)View Dossier
Software EngineerTechnologyTechnology$166,830$129,030-$37,800 (-22.7%)View Dossier
Accountant & AuditorFinanceFinance$105,650$78,880-$26,770 (-25.3%)View Dossier
Financial ManagerFinanceFinance$221,010$158,780-$62,230 (-28.2%)View Dossier
Project Management SpecialistBusiness OperationsBusiness Operations$126,660$100,510-$26,150 (-20.6%)View Dossier
Management AnalystBusiness OperationsBusiness Operations$124,390$101,100-$23,290 (-18.7%)View Dossier
Computer and Information Systems ManagersFinance & ManagementFinance & Management$215,300$167,130-$48,170 (-22.4%)View Dossier
Marketing ManagersFinance & ManagementFinance & Management$192,840$137,900-$54,940 (-28.5%)View Dossier
Financial AnalystFinanceFinance$128,930$99,950-$28,980 (-22.5%)View Dossier
Sales ManagersFinance & ManagementFinance & Management$215,150$123,870-$91,280 (-42.4%)View Dossier
ElectricianSkilled TradesSkilled Trades$79,020$77,170-$1,850 (-2.3%)View Dossier

Major US Inter-Metro Relocation Corridors

Empirical cost differentials and statutory tax savings across high-volume migration routes.

New York-Newark-Jersey City → Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

On $100k: $8,301 less tax and $14,388 less 1BR rent a year

-30.6% COL+$22,689/yr
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont → Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

On $100k: $6,211 less tax and $17,676 less 1BR rent a year

-30.4% COL+$23,887/yr
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin → Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

On $100k: $4,805 less tax and $2,928 less 1BR rent a year

-2.2% COL+$7,733/yr
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont → Columbus

On $100k: $1,729 less tax and $19,884 less 1BR rent a year

-41.0% COL+$21,613/yr
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim → Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler

On $100k: $4,113 less tax and $10,908 less 1BR rent a year

-13.5% COL+$15,021/yr
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue → Denver-Aurora-Centennial

On $100k: $3,761 more tax and $4,188 less 1BR rent a year

-13.6% COL+$427/yr
Boston-Cambridge-Newton → Raleigh-Cary

On $100k: $1,299 less tax and $11,592 less 1BR rent a year

-16.2% COL+$12,891/yr
New York-Newark-Jersey City → Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach

On $100k: $8,301 less tax and $7,296 less 1BR rent a year

-27.3% COL+$15,597/yr

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL Relocation FAQs

About $56,500. That scales $100,000 by the ratio of the metros' cost-of-living indexes (181.0 in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, 102.3 in St. Louis, MO-IL, from EPI family budgets); taxes are compared separately below.

Triangular Relocation & Tax Silo

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL: State Paychecks, Rents & Reciprocal Corridor

Reverse Route: St. Louis, MO-IL to New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Relocation: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL Overview

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ to St. Louis, MO-IL: 2026 federal, state & local income tax, HUD Fair Market Rents & EPI living costs compared on the same.

Quick answers
How much salary do I need in St. Louis, MO-IL to match $100,000 in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ?

About $56,500. That scales $100,000 by the ratio of the metros' cost-of-living indexes (181.0 in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, 102.3 in St. Louis, MO-IL, from EPI family budgets); taxes are compared separately below.

Is St. Louis, MO-IL cheaper than New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ?

EPI's family budgets for a single adult put overall living costs 43.5% lower in St. Louis, MO-IL than in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ. The budgets cover housing, food, transportation, health care and other necessities.