Sacramento vs Austin: where does a illustrator save more?

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

Sacramento
US
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$63,140$60,796
Take-home / mo$3,845$4,149
Income tax~27%~18%
Living costs / mo$3,300$2,910
Savings / mo$545$1,239
Savings rate14%30%
VerdictOkayComfortable

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. US ~27%, US ~18%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.