Can a Firefighter afford to live in Los Angeles?

Okay1% of take-home left to save โ€” you cover costs with a little left over.
Median salary (gross)
Firefighter ยท Los Angeles
$63,819
Income tax (~27% effective)
United States
โ€“ $17,237
Take-home pay
$3,882/mo
$46,582
Living costs (1 person)
$3,860/mo ยท derived
โ€“ $46,320
Savings potential
$22/mo ยท 1% of take-home
$262

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 Firefighter, adjusted for Los Angeles.

โ€ข Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~27%). 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.