Can a Data Engineer afford to live in Pittsburgh?

Excellent71% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Data Engineer · Pittsburgh
$152,800
Income tax (~31% effective)
United States
– $47,206
Take-home pay
$8,800/mo
$105,594
Living costs (1 person)
$2,580/mo · derived
– $30,960
Savings potential
$6,220/mo · 71% of take-home
$74,634

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OEWS 2025 metro-area survey median for Data Engineer, adjusted for Pittsburgh.

• 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.