Can a Technical Writer afford to live in Memphis?

Excellent55% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Technical Writer · Memphis
$79,034
Income tax (~21% effective)
United States
– $16,232
Take-home pay
$5,234/mo
$62,802
Living costs (1 person)
$2,380/mo · derived
– $28,560
Savings potential
$2,854/mo · 55% of take-home
$34,242

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

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

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Technical Writer, adjusted for Memphis.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~21%). 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.