San Francisco vs Austin: where does a cloud architect save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $6,275/mo after taxes and living costs.

San Francisco
US
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$201,168$152,689
Take-home / mo$10,158$9,185
Income tax~39%~28%
Living costs / mo$4,400$2,910
Savings / mo$5,758$6,275
Savings rate57%68%
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 cloud architect, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~39%, US ~28%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.