on $100k a year, leaving Kansas City
changea dispatch from
grand rapids
MI
42.96°N
85.67°W
Grand Rapids has won Beer City USA multiple times, hosts ArtPrize (one of the world's largest open art competitions every fall), and built itself on furniture (Steelcase, Herman Miller). The Frederik Meijer Sculpture Park is a sleeper world-class attraction. Downtown is walkable, the surrounding farmland is gorgeous in autumn, and Lake Michigan beaches are 30 minutes west. Quietly excellent.
the verdict
more each month than Kansas City ran you
Barely costlier than Kansas City. If Grand Rapids pulls you in, it's the life it offers, not the price tag.
a quick ledger.
$1,620/mo
8% more expensive than Kansas City(vs $1,502/mo)
4.25%
$37/mo less in state tax than Kansas City
vs 4.7% in Kansas City
$6,359/mo
$81 less than Kansas City
gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.
$353k
8% more expensive than Kansas City
vs $326k in Kansas City
1.2M
vs 2.2M in Kansas City
field notes, weather & such.
151
pleasant days a year, in grand rapids.
Kansas City gets 170 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine. Winter has bite, though: 50 days drop below 20° vs Kansas City's 26.
About as much going on as in Kansas City.
56/100
0% lower than Kansas City
vs 56/100 in Kansas City
Closest outdoor draw: White Pine Trail State Park, 5.4 mi.
97/100
3% higher than Kansas City
vs 94/100 in Kansas City
20
53% fewer than Kansas City
vs 43 nonstops in Kansas City
cities that play in grand rapids's register:
