Michigan vs Ohio: which really costs more?
Two Rust Belt neighbors with different flat-tax designs.
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 | Michigan | Ohio | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | $1,215,765 | $1,179,322 | $36,443 cheaper in Ohio |
| Car purchase | $139,124 | $136,832 | $2,292 cheaper in Ohio |
| Wedding | $48,150 | $47,639 | $511 cheaper in Ohio |
| Car payment or lease | $17,592 | $17,201 | $390 cheaper in Ohio |
| Coffee habit | $26,372 | $26,100 | $271 cheaper in Ohio |
| Funeral | $12,103 | $11,834 | $269 cheaper in Ohio |
| Phone plan | $10,424 | $10,193 | $231 cheaper in Ohio |
| Rent | $2,723 | $2,663 | $60 cheaper in Ohio |
| Childcare | $1,664 | $1,627 | $37 cheaper in Ohio |
| Pet annual cost | $2,482 | $2,457 | $26 cheaper in Ohio |
| Hotel stay | $1,058 | $1,035 | $24 cheaper in Ohio |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $1,924 | $1,905 | $20 cheaper in Ohio |
| Health insurance premium | $681 | $666 | $15 cheaper in Ohio |
| Student loan payment | $605 | $592 | $13 cheaper in Ohio |
| Domestic flight | $496 | $485 | $11 cheaper in Ohio |
| Utilities | $318 | $311 | $7 cheaper in Ohio |
| Weekly groceries | $265 | $259 | $6 cheaper in Ohio |
| Car insurance | $250 | $244 | $6 cheaper in Ohio |
| Concert ticket | $220 | $217 | $3 cheaper in Ohio |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $107 | $105 | $2 cheaper in Ohio |
| Internet service | $106 | $104 | $2 cheaper in Ohio |
| Restaurant dinner | $154 | $152 | $2 cheaper in Ohio |
| Gas fill-up | $68 | $67 | $2 cheaper in Ohio |
| Haircut | $64 | $62 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Food delivery | $57 | $56 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Pizza delivery | $60 | $59 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Gym membership | $72 | $71 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Streaming bundle | $72 | $71 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Rideshare trip | $33 | $33 | $1 cheaper in Ohio |
| Soft drinks | $39 | $38 | $0 cheaper in Ohio |
| Fast food meal | $19 | $19 | $0 cheaper in Ohio |
| Bar drink | $17 | $17 | $0 cheaper in Ohio |
| Cigarettes or vape | $14 | $14 | $0 cheaper in Ohio |
Across the 33 categories we can compute for both states, Ohio 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.