San Jose vs Austin: where does a epidemiologist save more?

Best for saving: San Jose โ€” about $2,890/mo after taxes and living costs.

San Jose
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Austin
US
Median salary$132,933$86,111
Take-home / mo$7,230$5,634
Income tax~35%~21%
Living costs / mo$4,340$2,910
Savings / mo$2,890$2,724
Savings rate40%48%
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 epidemiologist, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~35%, US ~21%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.