Houston vs Austin: where does a machine learning engineer save more?
Best for saving: Austin — about $5,369/mo after taxes and living costs.
Houston US | Austin US ★ Best for saving | |
|---|---|---|
| Median salary | $113,040 | $134,974 |
| Take-home / mo | $7,131 | $8,279 |
| Income tax | ~24% | ~26% |
| Living costs / mo | $2,740 | $2,910 |
| Savings / mo | $4,391 | $5,369 |
| Savings rate | 62% | 65% |
| Verdict | Excellent | Excellent |
Single professional, after-tax. "Savings" = take-home − a baseline cost of living. A planning estimate, not financial advice.
How we calculated this
• Salary: BLS/OECD median for a machine learning engineer, adjusted per city.
• Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~24%, US ~26%).
• Living costs: a single professional's baseline monthly budget per city.
Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.