San Francisco vs Austin: where does a k-12 teacher save more?

Best for saving: Austin โ€” about $1,171/mo after taxes and living costs.

San Francisco
US
Austin
US
โ˜… Best for saving
Median salary$78,416$59,695
Take-home / mo$4,643$4,081
Income tax~29%~18%
Living costs / mo$4,400$2,910
Savings / mo$243$1,171
Savings rate5%29%
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 k-12 teacher, adjusted per city.

โ€ข Tax: each country's single-filer effective rate (e.g. US ~29%, US ~18%).

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

Estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026.