Can a Speech-Language Pathologist afford to live in Chicago?

Excellent48% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Speech-Language Pathologist · Chicago
$103,493
Income tax (~28% effective)
United States
– $29,288
Take-home pay
$6,184/mo
$74,205
Living costs (1 person)
$3,220/mo · derived
– $38,640
Savings potential
$2,964/mo · 48% of take-home
$35,565

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Speech-Language Pathologist, adjusted for Chicago.

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