Berlin vs Austin: where does a qa engineer save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $4,273/mo after taxes and living costs.

Berlin
Germany
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$101,155$114,009
Take-home / mo$4,801$7,183
Income tax~43%~24%
Living costs / mo$2,333$2,910
Savings / mo$2,468$4,273
Savings rate51%59%
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 qa engineer, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. Germany ~43%, US ~24%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.