Can a Software Engineer afford to live in Detroit?

Excellent67% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Software Engineer · Detroit
$130,760
Income tax (~30% effective)
United States
– $39,634
Take-home pay
$7,594/mo
$91,126
Living costs (1 person)
$2,520/mo · derived
– $30,240
Savings potential
$5,074/mo · 67% of take-home
$60,886

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 OEWS 2025 metro-area survey median for Software Engineer, adjusted for Detroit.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~30%). 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.