Can a Registered Nurse afford to live in Singapore?

Comfortable20% of take-home left to save โ€” solid margin to save and invest.
Median salary (gross)
Registered Nurse ยท Singapore
$40,578
Income tax (~4% effective)
Singapore
โ€“ $1,647
Take-home pay
$3,244/mo
$38,931
Living costs (1 person)
$2,605/mo ยท curated
โ€“ $31,260
Savings potential
$639/mo ยท 20% of take-home
$7,671

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

Monthly cost breakdown ยท Singapore

Rent (1-bed)$1,628
Groceries$296
Dining out$259
Transport$89
Utilities$111
Entertainment$148

Hawker food is cheap, but rent and cars are very expensive.

How we calculated this

โ€ข Salary: SG-MOM median for Registered Nurse, adjusted for Singapore.

โ€ข Tax: Singapore single-filer effective rate (~4%). 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.