Can a Intellectual Property Attorney afford to live in Chicago?

Excellent68% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Intellectual Property Attorney · Chicago
$188,169
Income tax (~35% effective)
United States
– $66,423
Take-home pay
$10,146/mo
$121,746
Living costs (1 person)
$3,220/mo · derived
– $38,640
Savings potential
$6,926/mo · 68% of take-home
$83,106

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 Intellectual Property Attorney, adjusted for Chicago.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~35%). 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.