Can a Communications Director afford to live in Chicago?

Excellent62% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Communications Director · Chicago
$149,533
Income tax (~33% effective)
United States
– $48,617
Take-home pay
$8,410/mo
$100,916
Living costs (1 person)
$3,220/mo · derived
– $38,640
Savings potential
$5,190/mo · 62% of take-home
$62,276

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Communications Director, adjusted for Chicago.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~33%). 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.