Moving from Massachusetts to Arizona: Cost & Tax Comparison
Compare state income tax savings, HUD rent differentials, and household purchasing power adjustments when relocating from Massachusetts to Arizona.
Data updated · Sources: HUD FY 2027 Fair Market Rents, EPI 2026 Family Budget, 2026 tax tables · Methodology
What changes when you move from Massachusetts to Arizona
Massachusetts has graduated income tax rates up to 9% and Arizona has a flat 2.5% income tax. On a $100,000 salary a single filer pays $4,780 in state income tax in Massachusetts and $2,098 in state income tax in Arizona. With federal income tax and FICA unchanged, total tax falls by $2,683 a year after the move. HUD's one-bedroom Fair Market Rent averages $1,695 a month across Massachusetts's metro areas and $1,184 across Arizona's (-30.1%). Pay differs too: the BLS median wage across all occupations, weighted by employment in each state's metros, is $64,181 in Massachusetts and $50,374 in Arizona. City and county income taxes, which some localities add, are not included in these state-level figures; the metro routes below include them.
Metropolitan Corridors Between Massachusetts & Arizona
Moving from Massachusetts to Arizona on a $100,000 salary: pay $2,683 less in total taxes per year; average one-bedroom rent is $1,184 vs $1,695 a month (HUD.
Quick answers
For a single filer earning $100,000 with no local income tax, total federal, FICA and state taxes are $2,683 lower in Arizona than in Massachusetts (2.7 percentage points of gross pay). The average HUD one-bedroom Fair Market Rent across Arizona's metros is $1,184 a month, versus $1,695 in Massachusetts (-30.1%). Taxes and one-bedroom rent combined change by +$8,816 a year.
Massachusetts: Graduated Brackets, top rate 9%. Arizona: Flat Tax, top rate 2.5%. Federal income tax and FICA are the same in both states.