Can a Executive Chef afford to live in Seattle?

Comfortable32% of take-home left to save — solid margin to save and invest.
Median salary (gross)
Executive Chef · Seattle
$90,598
Income tax (~22% effective)
United States
– $19,986
Take-home pay
$5,884/mo
$70,612
Living costs (1 person)
$3,980/mo · derived
– $47,760
Savings potential
$1,904/mo · 32% of take-home
$22,852

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Executive Chef, adjusted for Seattle.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~22%). 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.