Is your salary good in Austin?
↻ Updated 2026Austin, TX has a cost-of-living index of 98(US average = 100), so it's about 2% less expensive than the typical US city. Add your household below to see what it really costs to live here — and whether your income is enough.
Comfortable — living costs are about 44% of your gross income in Austin.
What costs more in Austin?
Each category indexed to the US average (100). Housing is what makes a city expensive — everyday costs vary far less.
Rents and home prices — the category that drives almost all of the gap between metros.
Groceries and other goods, which vary far less between metros than housing.
Electricity, gas, water and other utility services.
Transportation, health care, dining and the rest of everyday services.
These are the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for the Austin metro area (2024) — measured government figures, not estimates, indexed so the US average is 100. They cover the metro as a whole; actual costs still vary by neighbourhood, household size and lifestyle. See sources below.
The cost of living in Austin, at a glance
Austin's overall price level sits right around the US average — the BEA all-items index is about 98 — but that headline hides the real story. Housing runs roughly 20% above the national average, while groceries, utilities and everyday services all sit below it. Texas charges no state income tax, which softens the blow; the catch is that property taxes here are among the highest in the country.
For a single person, a comfortable salary in the Austin metro is roughly $98,000 a year — well above what the near-average price index alone would suggest, because so much of the budget is concentrated in housing.
Is your salary good in Austin?
Median household income is about $79,000 inside the city of Austin and closer to $94,000 across the wider metro. Because Austin's price level is near the national average, a US-average salary buys roughly a US-average lifestyle here — right up until housing enters the picture.
The practical effect: a salary that felt generous in a cheaper Texas metro such as Houston or San Antonio loses most of its edge in Austin, and it loses it almost entirely to rent and home prices rather than to everyday spending.
Housing — renting and buying
Housing is the category that makes or breaks an Austin budget: the BEA housing parity is about 120, or 20% above the US average. A one-bedroom rents for roughly $1,400 to $1,800 a month depending on the neighborhood, after rents softened through 2024–25 from their pandemic peak.
To buy, the median home runs about $435,000 across the metro but $520,000–$580,000 inside the city itself. Prices are down from the 2022 high, which makes 2026 a relatively friendlier entry point than the preceding few years.
Everyday costs
Away from housing, Austin is cheaper than the typical US city. Groceries and household goods sit a little below average (BEA goods parity about 94), and utilities are notably lower (parity about 82) — though summer air-conditioning bills spike from July through September.
Austin is car-dependent, so budget for fuel, insurance and traffic; public transit is limited outside the core. Healthcare and other services land close to the national average.
Taxes in Austin
Texas is one of nine states with no state income tax, which is a real, ongoing advantage for your take-home pay. Sales tax in Austin is 8.25% (6.25% state plus local), near the maximum allowed in Texas.
The offset is property tax: effective rates in Travis County run roughly 1.8%–2.1% of a home's value, among the highest in the nation, which meaningfully narrows the no-income-tax benefit for homeowners.
A living wage vs a comfortable salary
The MIT Living Wage Calculator puts the bare-necessities wage for a single adult in the Austin metro at roughly $45,000–$50,000 before tax. That covers essentials but leaves little room for saving or the unexpected.
By the more generous 50/30/20 benchmark, a single adult needs about $98,550 a year to live comfortably, and a family of four with two earners needs roughly $229,000 — a figure driven up mostly by housing and childcare.
Who Austin suits
Austin works well for remote and tech workers (no state income tax plus a strong job market), and for mid-career earners who can absorb the housing premium and value the climate and lifestyle.
It is harder on first-time buyers (home prices plus high property tax), single earners on an average salary (the rent squeeze), and retirees who are sensitive to property-tax bills.
How Austin compares
Cheaper Texas peers stretch a salary further: Houston and San Antonio sit below Austin on housing while sharing the no-income-tax benefit, and Dallas is broadly comparable. Against coastal metros such as San Francisco or New York, Austin is dramatically cheaper — again, mostly on housing.
Frequently asked questions
Is $100,000 a good salary in Austin?
It is a solid salary for a single person — above the roughly $98,000 that the 50/30/20 rule suggests you need to live comfortably in the metro — but it goes much further if your rent or mortgage is below the local average, since housing is where Austin's costs concentrate. For a family, $100,000 is closer to a getting-by figure than a comfortable one.
How much do you need to earn to live comfortably in Austin?
About $98,550 a year for a single adult by the 50/30/20 benchmark, and roughly $229,000 for a family of four with two earners. The bare-necessities living wage for a single adult is lower — around $45,000–$50,000 — but that leaves little margin for saving.
Does Austin have a state income tax?
No. Texas has no state income tax, so no state tax is withheld from your Austin paycheck. Your main paycheck deductions are federal income tax and FICA. The trade-off is high property tax and a near-maximum sales tax.
Why is housing in Austin so expensive?
Rapid population and job growth — especially in tech — pushed demand well ahead of supply through the early 2020s, lifting the metro's housing price level to about 20% above the US average even though its other costs are below average. Prices have eased from the 2022 peak but remain the dominant line in an Austin budget.
- ·U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities by metro — All-items and category price levels vs the US average, 2024
- ·U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey — Austin median income — median household income
- ·Austin metro home prices — market reports — median home price, 2026
- ·MIT Living Wage Calculator — Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
- ·KXAN — salary needed to live comfortably in Austin (50/30/20 analysis)
RealMoneyIQ provides free educational calculators, not financial, tax, investment or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the assumptions you enter and publicly published rates; your actual outcome will differ. Always confirm decisions with a licensed professional who knows your full situation.