Phoenix vs Austin: where does a manufacturing engineer save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $3,557/mo after taxes and living costs.

Phoenix
US
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$86,329$100,900
Take-home / mo$5,467$6,467
Income tax~24%~23%
Living costs / mo$2,720$2,910
Savings / mo$2,747$3,557
Savings rate50%55%
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 manufacturing engineer, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~24%, US ~23%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.