Can a Mechanical Engineer afford to live in Phoenix?

Excellent54% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Mechanical Engineer · Phoenix
$95,471
Income tax (~25% effective)
United States
– $23,913
Take-home pay
$5,963/mo
$71,558
Living costs (1 person)
$2,720/mo · derived
– $32,640
Savings potential
$3,243/mo · 54% of take-home
$38,918

Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Phoenix? →Compare Phoenix with another city →

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Mechanical Engineer, adjusted for Phoenix.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~25%). 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.