Mumbai vs Austin: where does a illustrator save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $1,239/mo after taxes and living costs.

Mumbai
India
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$9,796$60,796
Take-home / mo$735$4,149
Income tax~10%~18%
Living costs / mo$1,340$2,910
Savings / mo$-605$1,239
Savings rate-82%30%
VerdictTightComfortable

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 illustrator, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. India ~10%, US ~18%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.