City, Suburb or Florida
Almost every client weighing a move runs the same headline in their head: Florida has no income tax. It is true, and on its own it is misleading. New Jersey's property tax is the highest in the country, Florida's insurance is climbing fast, and New York City's property tax on a co-op is lower than people expect. This compares what a year actually costs in all three.
Before tax, all earners combined.
What you would own in each place. Same figure across all three.
On these numbers
Florida saves you $36,819 a year.
That is 6.1% of your income — real money, and worth weighing against everything the comparison below does not price.
Worth noting before you write off the city: on these numbers New Jersey costs $11,583 a year more than staying in Manhattan. The lower income tax is real, but the property tax bill is more than double, and it lands on the full market value of the house rather than a Manhattan class 2 assessment.
New York City
Manhattan, as a co-op or condo owner.
$95,894
a year · 16.0% of income
- Income tax$60,244
$37,213 New York State + $23,032 New York City resident tax
- Property tax$22,500
Estimate — 0.90% of $2,500,000 — typical effective rate on Manhattan condos and co-ops — class 2 assessments run well below market value, and abatements move this a lot building to building
- Insurance$2,500
Estimate — 0.10% of $2,500,000 — an HO-6 policy covering the interior only — in a co-op or condo the building's master policy sits inside your maintenance, which is why this line is so much smaller here
- Sales tax$10,650
Estimate — 8.875% on an assumed 20% of income spent on taxable goods — 4% state + 4.5% city + 0.375% MCTD
New Jersey
A commuter suburb — Hoboken, Jersey City, Montclair, Millburn.
$107,478
a year · 17.9% of income
$11,583 more than the city
- Income tax$36,778
New Jersey gross income tax on the full amount
- Property tax$55,750
Estimate — 2.23% of $2,500,000 — New Jersey statewide effective rate — the highest in the country, and it varies sharply by town
- Insurance$7,000
Estimate — 0.28% of $2,500,000 — a full homeowners policy on the structure — New Jersey premiums are among the more moderate in the country
- Sales tax$7,950
Estimate — 6.625% on an assumed 20% of income spent on taxable goods — statewide rate, no local add-on
Florida
Miami-Dade, as your primary residence.
$59,075
a year · 9.8% of income
$36,819 less than the city
- Income tax$0
Florida levies no personal income tax — it is written into the state constitution
- Property tax$28,175
Estimate — 1.15% of $2,450,000 — typical Miami-Dade effective rate, before the homestead exemption
- Insurance$22,500
Estimate — 0.90% of $2,500,000 — wind coverage included, which is the whole story — coastal Miami-Dade premiums run several times the national rate and have been rising faster than anywhere else
- Sales tax$8,400
Estimate — 7% on an assumed 20% of income spent on taxable goods — 6% state + 1% Miami-Dade surtax
Where the Florida saving actually goes
Florida's income tax saving is real, and then insurance takes a bite of it back. At this home value the Florida premium runs $20,000 a year more than the equivalent New York policy, because wind coverage included, which is the whole story — coastal Miami-Dade premiums run several times the national rate and have been rising faster than anywhere else. It is the single most volatile number on this page — get a real quote on a specific address before you treat the saving as banked.
What this does not price
- Commuting — a Jersey City to Midtown transit pass and a car you would not own in Manhattan can run several thousand a year.
- Housing cost itself. The same money buys very different homes in the three markets, and that gap usually dwarfs everything modelled here.
- Federal income tax, which is the same in all three places, and the SALT deduction cap, which softens the high-tax states somewhat.
- Co-op and condo maintenance or HOA dues, which in Manhattan often exceed the property tax line.
- Florida flood insurance, school choice, and the cost of keeping a second home in the north.
- New York City's non-primary residence surcharge, in force since 1 July 2026, which is the single largest omission here for anyone leaving but keeping their Manhattan apartment. A co-op or condo the city values at $1M or more that is nobody's primary home now carries an annual surcharge of 4% to 6.5% of that value. It applies to the whole value once the threshold is crossed, and the city's valuation is far below what the apartment would sell for.
Rates verified August 2026 against NY State and NYC rate schedules (IT-201 instructions) and NJ Division of Taxation rate schedules. This models recurring annual costs only, and it is an estimate rather than tax advice. Income tax uses the current published state and city rate schedules applied to your full income — it does not model deductions, credits, retirement contributions, capital gains, business income, or New York's supplemental tax on incomes above $107,650, which would push the New York figure somewhat higher. Property tax, insurance and sales tax are typical figures and will vary by town, by building and by your own circumstances. Federal tax is identical in all three places, so it is left out entirely.
The numbers are the easy part
Everything on this page is public, computable, and on the page for free. What no calculator has is the part that actually moves a New York number: what a specific board has approved before, why the line above just traded 12% under, which seller will take a February closing. That is the conversation.