Can a Mechanical Engineer afford to live in San Jose?

Excellent47% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Mechanical Engineer · San Jose
$154,876
Income tax (~36% effective)
United States
– $56,514
Take-home pay
$8,197/mo
$98,362
Living costs (1 person)
$4,340/mo · derived
– $52,080
Savings potential
$3,857/mo · 47% of take-home
$46,282

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

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

How we calculated this

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

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~36%). 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.