Austin vs San Francisco: where does a recruiter save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $2,431/mo after taxes and living costs.

Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
San Francisco
US
Median salary$80,911$101,891
Take-home / mo$5,341$5,800
Income tax~21%~32%
Living costs / mo$2,910$4,400
Savings / mo$2,431$1,400
Savings rate46%24%
VerdictExcellentComfortable

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 recruiter, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~21%, US ~32%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.