Sacramento vs Austin: where does a art director save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $3,746/mo after taxes and living costs.

Sacramento
US
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$108,772$104,321
Take-home / mo$6,130$6,656
Income tax~32%~23%
Living costs / mo$3,300$2,910
Savings / mo$2,830$3,746
Savings rate46%56%
VerdictExcellentExcellent

Single professional, after-tax. "Savings" = take-home โˆ’ a baseline cost of living. A planning estimate, not financial advice.

How we calculated this

โ€ข Salary: BLS/OECD median for a art director, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~32%, US ~23%).

โ€ข Living costs: a single professional's baseline monthly budget per city.

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.