Can a Network Engineer afford to live in Raleigh?

Excellent63% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Network Engineer · Raleigh
$132,184
Income tax (~31% effective)
United States
– $40,547
Take-home pay
$7,636/mo
$91,637
Living costs (1 person)
$2,800/mo · derived
– $33,600
Savings potential
$4,836/mo · 63% of take-home
$58,037

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 Network Engineer, adjusted for Raleigh.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~31%). 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.