Can a Landscape Architect afford to live in Chicago?

Excellent35% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Landscape Architect · Chicago
$80,148
Income tax (~26% effective)
United States
– $20,547
Take-home pay
$4,967/mo
$59,601
Living costs (1 person)
$3,220/mo · derived
– $38,640
Savings potential
$1,747/mo · 35% of take-home
$20,961

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 Landscape Architect, adjusted for Chicago.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~26%). 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.