Can a Autonomous Systems Engineer afford to live in Madison?

Excellent67% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Autonomous Systems Engineer · Madison
$158,731
Income tax (~34% effective)
United States
– $53,331
Take-home pay
$8,783/mo
$105,400
Living costs (1 person)
$2,860/mo · derived
– $34,320
Savings potential
$5,923/mo · 67% of take-home
$71,080

Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Madison? →Compare Madison with another city →

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Autonomous Systems Engineer, adjusted for Madison.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~34%). Official calculator.

• Living costs: derived from cost-of-living index for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.