$100k salary, packing up from Kansas City

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Columbus, OH cityscape

if you left kansas city

Columbus

oh · metro 2.2M

a dispatch from

columbus

OH

39.96°N

83.00°W

Columbus is Ohio State on autumn Saturdays (the Horseshoe holds 100,000+ and they all wear scarlet), German Village's cobblestone streets and brick cottages, and a Short North gallery scene that punches well above its weight. It's quietly become a test market for the rest of America because the demographics line up so neatly. The food scene leans young, weird, and good. 'Buckeyes' here can mean either the football team or the chocolate-peanut-butter candy.

metro2.2M

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$50

less monthly outlay than Kansas City

Cost barely budges between Columbus and Kansas City. Pick this one for the texture of the days, not the math.
landable, recorded on the columbus entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,511/mo

1% more expensive than Kansas City(vs $1,502/mo)

02state income tax

3.99%

$59/mo less in state tax than Kansas City

vs 4.7% in Kansas City

03after rent

$6,490/mo

$50 more than Kansas City

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$350k

7% more expensive than Kansas City

vs $326k in Kansas City

05metro size

2.2M

vs 2.2M in Kansas City

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

171

pleasant days a year, in columbus.

Kansas City keeps to 170 pleasant days a year.

Nights and weekends fill up faster. 1.4× more on the calendar than Kansas City.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

57/100

2% higher than Kansas City

vs 56/100 in Kansas City

Closest outdoor draw: Alum Creek State Park, 16.2 mi.

·walk score®

85/100

10% lower than Kansas City

vs 94/100 in Kansas City

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

32

26% fewer than Kansas City

vs 43 nonstops in Kansas City

04 · see also

in the same ballpark as columbus:

compare columbus with: