Can a Systems Engineer afford to live in Philadelphia?
Excellent57% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Systems Engineer · Philadelphia
$117,869
Income tax (~28% effective)
United States
– $32,835
Take-home pay
$7,086/mo
$85,034
Living costs (1 person)
$3,020/mo · derived
– $36,240
Savings potential
$4,066/mo · 57% of take-home
$48,794
Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.
Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Philadelphia? →Compare Philadelphia with another city →
How we calculated this
• Salary: BLS OES median for Systems Engineer, adjusted for Philadelphia.
• 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.