Can a Software Engineer afford to live in St. Louis?

Excellent67% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Software Engineer · St. Louis
$129,030
Income tax (~31% effective)
United States
– $39,616
Take-home pay
$7,451/mo
$89,414
Living costs (1 person)
$2,490/mo · derived
– $29,880
Savings potential
$4,961/mo · 67% of take-home
$59,534

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

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in St. Louis? →Compare St. Louis with another city →

How we calculated this

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

• 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.