Should I move from Chicago to Houston?
A $100,000 salary in Chicago matches about $81,500 in Houston. Rent $2,000 vs $1,400 a month; tax and cost-of-living breakdown plus a calculator.
Chicago vs Houston: the numbers
Using typical 1-bedroom rent of $2,000/mo in Chicago and $1,400/mo in Houston (rent is 30% lower in Houston), a $100,000 salary in Chicago matches about $81,500 in Houston (−18.5%). The biggest piece of that gap is the tax effect. Combined income tax is 4.95% in Chicago and 0.00% in Houston (4.95 points lower in Houston).
| Component | Chicago | Houston | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical 1-bed rent ($/mo) | $2,000 | $1,400 | −30.0% |
| Cost-of-living index (state composite, US = 100) | 94.5 | 90.8 | −3.9% |
| Non-housing cost index (derived) | 97.8 | 96.3 | −1.5% |
| State income tax (effective at $100k) | 4.95% | 0.00% | −4.95 pts |
| City income tax | 0.00% | 0.00% | same |
| Sales tax (state + avg local) | 8.98% | 8.20% | −0.78 pts |
Tax and cost-of-living figures are state-level; only rent and city income tax are city-specific. Rents are rough 2026 estimates, not survey data.
| Salary in Chicago | Needed in Houston | Change | From rent | From prices | Tax effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | $59,600 | −20.5% | −$7,200 | −$601 | −$7,586 |
| $100,000 | $81,500 | −18.5% | −$7,200 | −$891 | −$10,446 |
| $150,000 | $126,500 | −15.7% | −$7,200 | −$1,461 | −$14,874 |
| $200,000 | $173,400 | −13.3% | −$7,200 | −$2,041 | −$17,357 |
"From" columns split the gap between the two salaries (they add up to it): extra pay needed to cover the rent difference, the price-level and sales-tax difference on everything else, and the tax effect (the extra or fewer gross dollars needed so that, after federal, state and city income tax and FICA, you net the difference). Negative means that factor lets you earn less. Same model as the calculator above, at the default rents.
The parity question, not the salary question
A $120k salary in San Francisco is not the same as a $120k salary in Houston, in either direction. The right question to ask is: what salary in the new state gives me the same standard of living I have now?
Four things move the answer:
- Income tax: federal (2026 brackets) is the same everywhere; state tax is 0% in TX/FL/WA/NV and 6–7% in CA/NY/OR/HI, and a few cities add their own — New York City and Philadelphia among them
- Housing: the biggest swing, so it's your own number, not an index
- Everything else: groceries, transportation, services — adjusted with a non-housing cost-of-living index
- Sales tax: applied to the roughly one-third of non-housing spending that's taxable
The cost-of-living figures start from the MERIC Cost of Living Index (Q2 2026, national average = 100). Hawaii's index is 185.8; Oklahoma's is 83.0. Most of that gap is housing, so once you've entered your rent we only apply the non-housing part of the difference. All tax and cost figures are state averages — Chicago and Houston can run well above their state's (big-city rents especially), which is why the housing inputs matter most.