Can a Mechanical Engineer afford to live in Toronto?

Excellent54% of take-home left to save โ€” you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Mechanical Engineer ยท Toronto
$78,845
Income tax (~27% effective)
Canada
โ€“ $21,136
Take-home pay
$4,809/mo
$57,709
Living costs (1 person)
$2,212/mo ยท curated
โ€“ $26,544
Savings potential
$2,597/mo ยท 54% of take-home
$31,165

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

Monthly cost breakdown ยท Toronto

Rent (1-bed)$1,387
Groceries$292
Dining out$219
Transport$102
Utilities$80
Entertainment$131

Universal healthcare. Rent surged post-2022 but still below NYC/SF.

How we calculated this

โ€ข Salary: CA-StatsCan median for Mechanical Engineer, adjusted for Toronto.

โ€ข Tax: Canada single-filer effective rate (~27%). Official calculator.

โ€ข Living costs: hand-curated local budget for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.