Can a Mechanical Engineer afford to live in Raleigh?

Excellent49% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Mechanical Engineer · Raleigh
$89,856
Income tax (~26% effective)
United States
– $23,795
Take-home pay
$5,505/mo
$66,061
Living costs (1 person)
$2,800/mo · derived
– $33,600
Savings potential
$2,705/mo · 49% of take-home
$32,461

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

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

How we calculated this

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

• 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.