Can a Mechanical Engineer afford to live in Philadelphia?
Excellent49% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Mechanical Engineer · Philadelphia
$96,568
Income tax (~26% effective)
United States
– $24,844
Take-home pay
$5,977/mo
$71,724
Living costs (1 person)
$3,020/mo · derived
– $36,240
Savings potential
$2,957/mo · 49% of take-home
$35,484
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 Mechanical Engineer, adjusted for Philadelphia.
• 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.