Can a Physician Assistant afford to live in Portland?

Excellent61% of take-home left to save โ€” you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Physician Assistant ยท Portland
$161,548
Income tax (~38% effective)
United States
โ€“ $60,619
Take-home pay
$8,411/mo
$100,929
Living costs (1 person)
$3,250/mo ยท derived
โ€“ $39,000
Savings potential
$5,161/mo ยท 61% of take-home
$61,929

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

How we calculated this

โ€ข Salary: BLS OES median for Physician Assistant, adjusted for Portland.

โ€ข Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~38%). Official calculator.

โ€ข 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.