Can a Journalist afford to live in Philadelphia?
Excellent35% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Journalist · Philadelphia
$71,768
Income tax (~23% effective)
United States
– $16,247
Take-home pay
$4,627/mo
$55,521
Living costs (1 person)
$3,020/mo · derived
– $36,240
Savings potential
$1,607/mo · 35% of take-home
$19,281
Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.
Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Philadelphia? →Compare Philadelphia with another city →
How we calculated this
• Salary: BLS OES median for Journalist, adjusted for Philadelphia.
• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~23%). 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.