Can a Software Engineer afford to live in Austin?

Excellent69% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Software Engineer · Austin
$159,408
Income tax (~28% effective)
United States
– $45,196
Take-home pay
$9,518/mo
$114,212
Living costs (1 person)
$2,910/mo · curated
– $34,920
Savings potential
$6,608/mo · 69% of take-home
$79,292

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

Monthly cost breakdown · Austin

Rent (1-bed)$1,600
Groceries$380
Dining out$280
Transport$200
Utilities$140
Entertainment$180

No state income tax. Lower cost than coastal cities but rising fast.

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Software Engineer, adjusted for Austin.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~28%). Official calculator.

• Living costs: hand-curated local budget for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.