Can a Police Officer afford to live in Portland?

Comfortable30% of take-home left to save โ€” solid margin to save and invest.
Median salary (gross)
Police Officer ยท Portland
$78,566
Income tax (~29% effective)
United States
โ€“ $23,158
Take-home pay
$4,617/mo
$55,408
Living costs (1 person)
$3,250/mo ยท derived
โ€“ $39,000
Savings potential
$1,367/mo ยท 30% of take-home
$16,408

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 Police Officer, adjusted for Portland.

โ€ข Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~29%). 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.