Can a Software Engineer afford to live in Raleigh?

Excellent63% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Software Engineer · Raleigh
$132,770
Income tax (~31% effective)
United States
– $40,789
Take-home pay
$7,665/mo
$91,981
Living costs (1 person)
$2,800/mo · derived
– $33,600
Savings potential
$4,865/mo · 63% of take-home
$58,381

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OEWS 2025 metro-area survey median for Software Engineer, adjusted for Raleigh.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~31%). 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.