Can a Machine Learning Engineer afford to live in Boston?

Excellent55% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Machine Learning Engineer · Boston
$157,928
Income tax (~33% effective)
United States
– $52,486
Take-home pay
$8,787/mo
$105,442
Living costs (1 person)
$3,920/mo · derived
– $47,040
Savings potential
$4,867/mo · 55% of take-home
$58,402

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Machine Learning Engineer, adjusted for Boston.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~33%). 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.