Moving From Rio Rancho to Columbus? The Tax Trap

If you're moving from Rio Rancho to Columbus, Ohio, I'd bet money you're about to make one mistake. You'll see Ohio's lower-sounding state income tax, listing prices close to what your current house would sell for, and assume Ohio is the cheaper state. It might be — but the money flips in a way almost nobody explains, and getting it wrong before you buy can cost close to six figures of buying power. I walked through the full comparison in a new video — watch it here. This post lays out the same numbers in writing so you have something to reference while you plan. 

Why This Comparison Even Comes Up

There's a real reason Rio Rancho and Columbus keep showing up together. Intel has been in Rio Rancho since 1980, and Fab 9 opened there in 2024 — if you live there, Intel isn't a headline, it's part of the community. Ohio is at an earlier stage: Intel's Ohio One campus in New Albany is planned as a wafer fab, not a packaging site, and it isn't open yet. Per Manufacturing Dive (March 3, 2025) and Ideastream Public Media (August 26, 2026), Intel's own target has the first fab beginning operations between 2030 and 2031, a target that's already slipped more than once. Intel has said its planned Ohio hires are currently training at fabs in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon. If your move involves Intel, a supplier, or a contractor, confirm your reporting location, start date, and relocation terms directly with your employer — build your housing plan around your confirmed job, not a construction announcement.

I'm Jared West, a Realtor here in Columbus and Central Ohio, and also a licensed mortgage loan originator with Rapid Mortgage Company, so I see this kind of move from both sides of the closing table. I've lived in Ohio my whole life, in Central Ohio since 2014.

The Income Tax Comparison Is Closer Than It Looks

Income tax is usually the first thing people check. New Mexico taxes income across six brackets, from 1.5% up to 5.9%, with no local income tax layered on top. Ohio, starting in 2026, moved to a flat 2.75% state tax on income above $26,050.

On that alone, Ohio looks like the winner. But Ohio has something New Mexico doesn't: municipal income tax. In many Ohio cities, where you physically work taxes your wages — New Albany, where the Intel campus sits, charges 2%. Some Ohio school districts add their own income tax on residents, too. The exact address and the exact city you work in both matter.

Here's the math that changes the picture. For a household earning $150,000, working in a 2%-tax Ohio city: Ohio's state tax runs roughly $3,400, and the municipal tax adds about $3,000 more — a combined $6,400, or about 4.3% of gross income, which lands in a similar neighborhood to what a lot of New Mexico households pay in state tax alone. Don't move to Ohio expecting a big income tax win — the gap is smaller than the headline. Use Ohio's online tax lookup tool to check a specific address, and confirm your own numbers with a tax professional.

Property Tax Is Where It Actually Gets Expensive

This is the part most people miss. In Rio Rancho, property tax is relatively low — a review of census-based estimates puts the effective rate under 1% for many owners — and New Mexico caps how much a home's taxable value can rise each year while you own it, at 3%. That cap resets the moment the house sells, so a neighbor who's owned for fifteen years has a very different bill than you'd have on the same house bought today. Ohio has no such cap; counties reappraise on a regular cycle, and rates vary by tax district rather than simply by city.

For New Albany's Franklin County side, the published 2024 residential rate works out to roughly $2,422 a year per $100,000 of market value — on a $500,000 home, that's about $12,100 a year, or roughly $1,000 a month. A comparable $500,000 home in Rio Rancho, at roughly 1%, runs about $5,000 a year. That's a gap of close to $600 a month, or roughly $35,000 over five years before either side's taxes rise further — and not every Ohio district taxes like New Albany. For the full side-by-side, see Ohio vs. New Mexico Property Taxes: The Real Math.

Why $600 a Month Matters More Than It Sounds

An extra $600 a month in property tax doesn't just cost $600 a month — it quietly shrinks how much house you qualify for, since a lender looks at your whole payment, taxes and insurance included, not just principal and interest. Depending on the rate you qualify for, that extra $600 a month can reduce your buying power by somewhere in the neighborhood of $90,000. That's not a reason to skip the move — it's a reason to compare actual properties, parcel by parcel, since two houses a mile apart here can carry very different payments. More on that in How Property Taxes Shrink Your Columbus Buying Power.

Picking an Area Before You Pick a House

If you live in Rio Rancho, you already know "the Albuquerque area" is too broad to describe your actual day — Columbus works the same way. People say they're moving to Columbus, their job is on the northeast side, and they end up looking at houses across town because those listings showed up first online. That's how you accidentally buy yourself a commute. Underneath that is another trap: an Ohio mailing address doesn't tell you your city, tax district, or school district. New Albany's own website says a New Albany mailing address can actually sit in Plain Township or inside Columbus itself — always check the parcel directly.

What I'd Do Before You Book a Showing

Confirm your move first: relocation start date, any relocation assistance, and what happens if the timeline shifts. Then run real numbers before you book showings — specific homes, specific tax districts, full monthly costs, not assumptions. If your job timeline or location is still uncertain, consider renting for a while first; moving twice is inconvenient, but buying the wrong house and selling it sooner than planned usually costs more.

This is general information about published tax rates and policy, not tax or legal advice for your specific situation — talk with a tax professional about your own numbers.

If you're planning a move from Rio Rancho, or anywhere in New Mexico, to Columbus or Central Ohio, and want help running the real numbers on specific homes, I'm glad to help. Book a time with me · Call or text (614) 633-7119 · Email jared.west@westrealestateexperts.com

Jared West | Real of Ohio | License SAL.2017006027

Jared West, NMLS #2796658 | Rapid Mortgage Company, NMLS #126841