Can a Climate Scientist afford to live in Sacramento?

Excellent40% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Climate Scientist · Sacramento
$96,522
Income tax (~31% effective)
United States
– $30,068
Take-home pay
$5,538/mo
$66,454
Living costs (1 person)
$3,300/mo · derived
– $39,600
Savings potential
$2,238/mo · 40% of take-home
$26,854

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Climate Scientist, adjusted for Sacramento.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~31%). 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.