California vs Arizona: which really costs more?
A heavily-traveled retirement and cost-of-living migration route out of California.
California
- State income tax
- 3.90%
- Rank of 51
- 20
- Combined sales tax
- 9.75%
- Rank of 51
- 2
Income tax shown is the effective state rate on a $75,000 salary for a single filer; sales tax is the combined state and local rate in each state's representative county. Both figures come from the same verified datasets the calculator uses.
What things actually cost in each
Gross income required at a $75,000 salary, using each category's default assumptions — sorted by the biggest difference between the two states.
| Category | California | Arizona | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | $1,393,868 | $1,173,498 | $220,371 cheaper in Arizona |
| Car purchase | $153,607 | $137,999 | $15,608 cheaper in Arizona |
| Wedding | $54,097 | $48,027 | $6,070 cheaper in Arizona |
| Coffee habit | $29,490 | $26,307 | $3,183 cheaper in Arizona |
| Car payment or lease | $18,974 | $17,138 | $1,836 cheaper in Arizona |
| Funeral | $13,031 | $11,791 | $1,240 cheaper in Arizona |
| Phone plan | $11,213 | $10,155 | $1,058 cheaper in Arizona |
| Pet annual cost | $2,725 | $2,476 | $248 cheaper in Arizona |
| Rent | $2,887 | $2,653 | $234 cheaper in Arizona |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $2,112 | $1,920 | $193 cheaper in Arizona |
| Childcare | $1,764 | $1,621 | $143 cheaper in Arizona |
| Hotel stay | $1,122 | $1,031 | $91 cheaper in Arizona |
| Health insurance premium | $722 | $663 | $59 cheaper in Arizona |
| Student loan payment | $642 | $590 | $52 cheaper in Arizona |
| Domestic flight | $526 | $483 | $43 cheaper in Arizona |
| Utilities | $337 | $310 | $27 cheaper in Arizona |
| Weekly groceries | $281 | $258 | $23 cheaper in Arizona |
| Concert ticket | $240 | $219 | $22 cheaper in Arizona |
| Car insurance | $265 | $243 | $21 cheaper in Arizona |
| Restaurant dinner | $169 | $154 | $15 cheaper in Arizona |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $113 | $104 | $9 cheaper in Arizona |
| Internet service | $112 | $103 | $9 cheaper in Arizona |
| Gym membership | $79 | $72 | $7 cheaper in Arizona |
| Streaming bundle | $79 | $72 | $7 cheaper in Arizona |
| Gas fill-up | $72 | $66 | $6 cheaper in Arizona |
| Pizza delivery | $65 | $60 | $6 cheaper in Arizona |
| Haircut | $67 | $62 | $5 cheaper in Arizona |
| Food delivery | $62 | $57 | $5 cheaper in Arizona |
| Soft drinks | $42 | $38 | $4 cheaper in Arizona |
| Rideshare trip | $35 | $32 | $3 cheaper in Arizona |
| Fast food meal | $21 | $19 | $2 cheaper in Arizona |
| Bar drink | $19 | $17 | $2 cheaper in Arizona |
| Cigarettes or vape | $16 | $14 | $1 cheaper in Arizona |
Across the 33 categories we can compute for both states, Arizona comes out cheaper more often. That is not the whole picture — housing costs, wages, and property tax vary far more than sales tax does, and none of those are modeled here. See limitations.