California vs Arizona

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in California is worth

$90,334

at national prices · RPP 110.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Arizona is worth

$99,305

at national prices · RPP 100.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$8,971 further in Arizona (+9.9% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

California: $100,000 ÷ (110.7 ÷ 100) = $90,334

Arizona: $100,000 ÷ (100.7 ÷ 100) = $99,305

difference: $99,305 − $90,334 = +$8,971

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	California	Arizona	Difference
All items	110.7	100.7	−9.0%
Housing rents	154.3	106.8	−30.8%
Goods	106.1	95.4	−10.1%
Utilities	158.9	92.3	−41.9%
Other services	102.6	102.8	+0.2%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

CaliforniaMedian rent$2,036/moMedian home$734,700

ArizonaMedian rent$1,543/moMedian home$394,500

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	California	Arizona
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	2.50%
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	8.52%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

California vs Arizona: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to Arizona and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $99,305 in national-average terms — a gain of $8,971. Arizona is the cheaper of the two, running at 100.7 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: California sits at 158.9 and Arizona at 92.3 (100 = national). Arizona has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,543 in Arizona, and the typical home $734,700 versus $394,500. Arizona is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, California has 13.30% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.99%; Arizona has 2.50% top income tax and 8.52%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: California ·Arizona. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

Comparing a different pair?Use the full tool →