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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Allentown to Wichita

Allentown, PA vs Wichita, KS

Simple answer

You'd likely save $796 a month in Wichita.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $796: Allentown is higher at $1,839 versus $1,043.

Pennsylvania taxes wages at a flat 3.07%. Kansas taxes wages at rates up to 5.58%. Combined sales tax differs by 2.4 percentage points, higher in Kansas. The effective property tax gap is 0.09 percentage points, higher in Kansas.

After a move from Pennsylvania to Kansas, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Allentown lines up with about $66,731 in Wichita on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Allentown

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,839
HUD area
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,458
All-items price parity
100.0
Goods price parity
100.6
Utilities price parity
107.6
Mean commute
28.2 min
Median household income
$83,974

Wichita

Wichita, KS

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,043
HUD area
Wichita, KS HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,010
All-items price parity
88.9
Goods price parity
94.0
Utilities price parity
88.5
Mean commute
19.3 min
Median household income
$71,810

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$66,731

Salary in Wichita that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$65,685

Gross salary in Wichita whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$42,537

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxPennsylvaniaKansas
State income tax on wages3.07% flatup to 5.58%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.3%8.7%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.16%1.25%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $4,631 a year in Pennsylvania and $4,999 in Kansas. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Kansas

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Pennsylvania and once in Kansas. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AllentownMaybe

    WichitaMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AllentownUnlikely

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AllentownLikely eligible

    WichitaLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AllentownUnlikely

    WichitaUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Allentown the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Wichita it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Kansas · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Allentown

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Allentown.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.