Can a Civil Engineer afford to live in Philadelphia?

Excellent47% of take-home left to save โ€” you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Civil Engineer ยท Philadelphia
$92,213
Income tax (~25% effective)
United States
โ€“ $23,322
Take-home pay
$5,741/mo
$68,891
Living costs (1 person)
$3,020/mo ยท derived
โ€“ $36,240
Savings potential
$2,721/mo ยท 47% of take-home
$32,651

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

How we calculated this

โ€ข Salary: BLS OES median for Civil Engineer, adjusted for Philadelphia.

โ€ข Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~25%). Official calculator.

โ€ข 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.