Moving from New York to Philadelphia
Your paycheck goes 12.6% further in Philadelphia than in New York. Compare taxes, rent, home prices and the cost of the move.
Equal salary in Philadelphia: $87,200
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $87,200 in Philadelphia, PA to match $100,000 in New York, NY ($12,800 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses New York and Pennsylvania state income tax; includes New York City resident tax $3,441 and Philadelphia resident tax $3,735 (inside city limits).
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use New York and Pennsylvania, their principal states. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
New York vs Philadelphia: key facts
- Median rent
- $1,851 → $1,567/mo
- Median home value
- $648,800 → $375,100
- Median household income
- $99,852 → $90,850
- Price level (U.S. = 100)
- 112.6 → 102.6
- FEMA county-score mean
- Very high county-score mean (96.8 → 94.5 of 100)
New York vs Philadelphia cost of living
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100).
| Measure | New York, NY | Philadelphia, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Overall price level (U.S. = 100) | 112.6 | 102.6 |
| Median rent | $1,851 | $1,567 |
| Income to rent affordably (30%) | $74,040 | $62,680 |
| Median home value | $648,800 | $375,100 |
| Monthly cost to own (20% down) | $4,478 | $2,557 |
| Income needed to buy | $191,936 | $109,587 |
| Median property tax | $9,973 | $5,016 |
| State income tax on $100,000 | $4,860 | $3,070 |
| City income tax (inside city limits) | $3,441 | $3,735 |
| Metro population | 19,940,274 | 6,330,422 |
Metro-area figures (Census ACS 2024, BEA 2024). The fixed tax rows above use an illustrative single-earner salary of $100,000, rounded from New York's median household income. Household income can include multiple earners; it is not a typical individual wage. Taxes use each metro's principal state, plus the income tax the principal city charges its residents. Unticking a city's box in the calculator estimates typical suburban tax for living and working outside that tax area; a nonresident city tax for work inside the city is not modeled. A metro can span several states; residence in its other state can change the tax result.
At higher incomes, especially for homeowners, itemizing state and local taxes (deductible up to $40,400 in 2026) can lower your federal tax while you live in New York, which narrows the gap shown.
- New York, NY: New York City residents pay a city income tax of 3.078%–3.876% on New York taxable income (brackets set in law, not indexed). The tax follows where you live, not where you work: people who live outside the five boroughs don't pay it, even when they commute into the city (New York City government employees are the exception). Yonkers, in Westchester County, has its own resident and nonresident taxes. Fixed examples inside the modeled tax area include this tax; calculator totals follow your city-limit selections.
- Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia residents pay a 3.735% wage tax on all earnings (from July 1, 2026; 3.74% before). If you live outside Philadelphia but work in the city, you pay the 3.425% nonresident wage tax on those wages instead of your home town's tax. Most Pennsylvania suburbs charge their own earned income tax, usually 1%; the New Jersey suburbs have no local income tax. Fixed examples inside the modeled tax area include this tax; calculator totals follow your city-limit selections.
Can a lower Philadelphia job offer still work?
A lower price level does not tell you whether a particular offer covers your rent. This separate cash test starts with $100,000 in New York City and compares three Philadelphia salaries. Each example assumes a full year of W-2 pay while living and working in the respective principal city, single filing, the standard deduction and metro median gross rent: $1,851 in New York and $1,567 in Philadelphia.
| Philadelphia annual offer | Monthly take-home | Monthly cash change after gross rent | Philadelphia gross rent that leaves the same cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| $80,000 | $4,968 | -$621 | $946/mo |
| $90,000 | $5,496 | -$92 | $1,475/mo |
| $100,000 | $6,025 | +$437 | $2,004/mo |
The New York baseline leaves about $4,021 a month after modeled taxes and gross rent. Positive cash change means more remains for other spending; a negative figure means less. The last column is a cash-equivalence threshold, not a recommended rent or a landlord's qualification rule.
Use your own offer and rent
This separate worksheet uses your actual annual wages and monthly rent plus basic tenant-paid utilities. It assumes one W-2 earner, Single filing, a full year living and working inside each principal city, and the 2026 standard-deduction model with the annualized local rates explained below. It does not calculate a Pennsylvania resident keeping a New York job.
Starting example: $100,000 in New York versus a $90,000 Philadelphia offer, using the metro gross rents above. This worksheet is independent of the city calculator and the three fixed rows.
About $92 less a month remains in Philadelphia after modeled taxes and gross rent.
- New York monthly take-home
- $5,872
- Philadelphia monthly take-home
- $5,496
- New York cash after gross rent
- $4,021/mo
- Philadelphia cash after gross rent
- $3,929/mo
About $1,475 a month in Philadelphia gross rent leaves the same cash as the New York entries, before other spending. This is a cash-equivalence threshold, not a recommended rent or a landlord's qualification rule.
It subtracts gross rent once and applies no BEA price adjustment. Other living costs, benefit and retirement deductions, itemizing and one-time moving costs are excluded. The amounts stay on this page; they are not stored or added to a link.
Use your actual lease and offer: Census gross rent includes rent and basic utilities such as electricity, gas, water and heating fuel when paid separately. Internet and other spending are separate. The metro median covers existing rentals across the wider region, not just current Manhattan or Center City listings. If your New York gross rent is $100 above this example, add $100 to the last column; if it is lower, subtract the difference. Subtract additional monthly commuting, benefit-premium or other recurring costs in Philadelphia compared with your current budget from that threshold; add back any savings in those costs. For your first-year cash change, multiply the monthly difference by 12, adjust for those recurring-cost differences, and subtract the move's actual one-time costs.
Original RelocateMath calculation: monthly take-home minus gross rent, using the existing tax model and Census ACS 2024 metro rents. The Philadelphia resident wage-tax rate of 3.735%, effective July 1, 2026, is applied to 12 months of pay. This is an annualized comparison, not an exact calendar-year withholding total: Philadelphia's rate was 3.74% before July 1. No BEA price adjustment is added to this table. It excludes other living costs, benefit and retirement deductions, itemizing and moving costs, so it can differ from the broader price-adjusted equal salary above. These fixed examples do not update with the calculator. Keeping a New York job instead? Use the cross-state work guidance below.
Moving to Philadelphia but keeping a New York job
The city comparison above estimates living and working in each city. Keeping a New York job after moving is a different tax task. Before using the local-job savings above, check these three items with payroll:
- Confirm your residency dates. A new address alone does not establish that New York State or New York City residency has ended. Check domicile, any retained permanent home and day counts against New York's residency and nonresident filing guidance. A nonresident does not owe New York City personal income tax merely because the job is in the city; a part-year move still needs the resident and nonresident periods separated.
- Keep your assigned-office record and workday log. New York taxes nonresident wages for services performed in the state. If your assigned or primary office is in New York, its convenience rule can also count Pennsylvania home-working days as New York workdays. Apply the employer-necessity and bona fide employer-office tests in New York TSB-M-06(5)I; permission to work at home alone does not establish an exemption. Do not simply remove every home day from New York wages.
- Check Philadelphia withholding separately. The Philadelphia Wage Tax rules cover employed city residents wherever they work. If you owe the tax but your employer does not withhold City Wage Tax, you must file and pay the same city tax yourself as Earnings Tax. The city's instructions explain opening an Earnings Tax account, quarterly payments and the annual reconciliation. Follow their current due dates; do not pay the same wages again as Earnings Tax when City Wage Tax has already been withheld.
Pennsylvania allows a limited resident credit for eligible income taxed by another state, but uses its own sourcing rules: Pennsylvania-source income does not qualify for that credit. See Pennsylvania's resident credit guidance. Philadelphia tax and any local credits require a separate check; a state credit is not automatically a city credit.
Use the Pennsylvania resident working in New York tax guide for the state-level example and official filing resources. It does not allocate hybrid workdays or determine your Philadelphia local tax.
Your yearly budget: New York vs Philadelphia
This fixed budget example uses $100,000, single filing and residence inside the principal city tax areas. It does not change with the calculator above.
On a $100,000 salary, taxes, gross rent including basic utilities, one car and health insurance for one adult come to $65,397 a year in New York and $56,655 in Philadelphia if you rent: $8,742 less after the move. If you buy the median home, those selected costs use mortgage, property tax, homeowners insurance and electricity instead of gross rent; they come to $98,784 and $70,478 ($28,306 less).
Your yearly budget, before vs after
| Yearly cost | New YorkBefore | PhiladelphiaAfter | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income and payroll taxes on $100,000, single filer | $29,533 | $27,695 | -$1,838 |
| Car insurance one car, state average | $1,753 | $1,155 | -$598 |
| Gas 12,000 miles at 25 mpg | $2,095 | $2,137 | +$42 |
| Health insurance one adult, age 40, own plan before subsidies | $9,804 | $6,864 | -$2,940 |
| If you rent | |||
| Rent and basic utilities ACS median gross rent, 12 months | $22,212 | $18,804 | -$3,408 |
| Total if you rent | $65,397 | $56,655 | -$8,742 |
| If you buy the median home (20% down) | |||
| Mortgage payment median home, 20% down, 7.24% | $42,447 | $24,540 | -$17,907 |
| Property tax median home | $9,973 | $5,016 | -$4,957 |
| Homeowners insurance state median, with a mortgage | $1,322 | $1,128 | -$194 |
| Electricity state average bill | $1,857 | $1,943 | +$86 |
| Total if you buy | $98,784 | $70,478 | -$28,306 |
Taxes: 2026 federal and state rules, plus the principal city's resident income tax where it has one, standard deduction. Rent, home value and property tax: Census ACS 2024 metro-area medians. Gross rent includes tenant-paid electricity, gas, water/sewer and fuels; those basic utilities are not added again. Mortgage: Freddie Mac 30-year average (7.24%, week of October 29, 2026).
State figures for the principal state: EIA 2025 average residential power bill (buyers only), NAIC 2023 auto insurance (average per car), Census ACS 2024 homeowners insurance (median for owners with a mortgage; premiums have risen since), AAA regular gas on October 29, 2026, and the KFF 2026 benchmark silver Marketplace premium. Job-based health coverage usually costs you less, and in 2026 incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level can get a premium tax credit.
Not included: sales tax (combined state and local rates are not in our data yet), food, car payments and other spending.
Child care is not in the totals. Full-time center care for one infant averages $20,978 a year in New York and $15,302 in Philadelphia (Child Care Aware of America, 2025 (2024 fallback for Colorado, Washington, DC and South Carolina) state averages).
Who moves from New York to Philadelphia
About 17,010 households (27,695 people) moved from the New York metro area to the Philadelphia metro area in 2022–2023, making Philadelphia the #2 destination for people leaving New York among the 149 metro areas we cover. 10,894 households moved the other way. Their average adjusted gross income was $89,284.
Cost to move from New York to Philadelphia
| Moving method (2–3 bedrooms) | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Rental truck (DIY) | $310–$600 |
| Moving container | $1,090–$2,030 |
| Full-service movers | $1,830–$4,860 |
At about 90 miles, this move is shorter than the long-distance routes these ranges are modeled on. A move this short is often priced by the hour, so quotes can come in lower.
Natural hazard risk: New York vs Philadelphia
RelocateMath's population-weighted means of FEMA county risk scores are 96.8 for the New York area and 94.5 for the Philadelphia area, on the county-score scale of 0–100. These means are not official FEMA metro ratings or national metro percentiles. Modeled expected yearly losses from natural hazards average $227 vs $339 per resident; individual properties can differ.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
Is Philadelphia cheaper than New York?
Overall prices in the Philadelphia area are 8.9% lower than in New York (BEA Regional Price Parities 2024). Median rent is $1,567 vs $1,851 a month, and the median home is $375,100 vs $648,800.
What salary do I need in Philadelphia to match $100,000 in New York?
About $87,200 in a fixed single-filer W-2 example assuming residence inside both principal cities. It accounts for 2026 federal and principal-state taxes, modeled resident local taxes where applicable, and metro prices. Uses New York and Pennsylvania state income tax. This illustration stays fixed when calculator inputs change.
How much does it cost to move from New York to Philadelphia?
For a 2–3 bedroom home over about 90 miles: roughly $310–$600 with a rental truck, $1,090–$2,030 with a container, or $1,830–$4,860 with full-service movers. A move this short is often priced by the hour, so quotes can come in lower.
How many people move from New York to Philadelphia?
IRS county migration data for 2022–2023 show about 17,010 households (27,695 people) moved from the New York metro area to the Philadelphia metro area, and 10,894 moved the other way.
Related
Where people from New York move
- New York to Miami 17,217 households
- New York to Los Angeles 8,964 households
- New York to Bridgeport 8,417 households
- New York to Washington, D.C. 8,033 households
- New York to Poughkeepsie 7,773 households
- New York to Boston 7,622 households
- New York to Orlando 6,562 households
- New York to Tampa 6,018 households
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing. Local-tax references retain their own publication or filing years. Some documents cover an earlier filing year; a source link is not a claim that every rule has just been rechecked.