Can a Research Scientist afford to live in Detroit?

Excellent47% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Research Scientist · Detroit
$75,315
Income tax (~24% effective)
United States
– $18,296
Take-home pay
$4,752/mo
$57,019
Living costs (1 person)
$2,520/mo · derived
– $30,240
Savings potential
$2,232/mo · 47% of take-home
$26,779

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Research Scientist, adjusted for Detroit.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~24%). 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.