Is your salary good in San Antonio?
↻ Updated 2026San Antonio, TX has a cost-of-living index of 95(US average = 100), so it's about 5% 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 39% of your gross income in San Antonio.
What costs more in San Antonio?
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 San Antonio 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 San Antonio, at a glance
San Antonio is a below-average-cost major metro. BEA Regional Price Parity data puts the city's overall price level at about 95, meaning goods and services cost roughly 5% less than the U.S. average as of 2024, with housing the single biggest driver of those savings at 5% below average and utilities running notably cheaper at 18% below the national baseline.
Texas levies no state individual income tax, which widens the gap between San Antonio and higher-cost, higher-tax metros even further for salaried workers. Based on SmartAsset's 2026 comfortable-salary study, a single adult needs a gross, pretax income of roughly $83,242 a year to live comfortably here under a 50/30/20 budget — the lowest such threshold of any large U.S. metro in that study — while a bare-necessities budget, per MIT's Living Wage Calculator, can be covered on notably less.
Is your salary good in San Antonio?
San Antonio's median household income was about $65,056 in 2024, up from roughly $62,900 the year before, according to Census American Community Survey data. A single person earning at or above that level is earning a solidly middle-of-the-pack income for the city, and because Texas doesn't tax wages, that income goes further than an equivalent salary would in a state with income tax.
For context, a salary in the $50,000 to $65,000 range for a single adult with no dependents covers rent, groceries, transportation, and healthcare, though with a fairly thin margin, given that SmartAsset's 2026 study puts the gross, pretax income needed to live comfortably here (50/30/20 budget) at roughly $83,242. Salaries well above that comfortable-salary benchmark allow for meaningfully more discretionary spending and faster savings, since housing and everyday costs remain below national averages even as income rises.
Housing — renting and buying
Typical one-bedroom apartments in San Antonio rent for roughly $950 to $1,225 a month depending on the data source, with two-bedroom units averaging roughly $1,200 to $1,400, based on 2025-2026 rental market data. Rents have eased somewhat over the past year, down on the order of 2% citywide, reflecting a period of new apartment supply catching up with demand.
On the ownership side, the median home value in San Antonio was about $235,700 in 2024, up about 7% from the prior year, according to Census-based estimates — a level that remains well below the U.S. median home price and below other major Texas metros like Austin. Homeownership sits at about 52% of households, lower than the national average, reflecting both the size of the rental market and a steady stream of newer residents.
Everyday costs
Outside of housing, San Antonio's cost advantage is most pronounced in utilities, which BEA data puts at 82 on the regional price parity index — about 18% below the national average, a meaningful saving given Texas's hot summers and high air-conditioning usage. Goods (groceries, gas, retail purchases) run about 6% below average at an index of 94.
Other services, which includes things like haircuts, auto repair, and recreation, price out close to the national average at 96 (about 4% below). Overall, day-to-day spending in San Antonio is noticeably lighter than in the average U.S. metro, though residents should budget for a car — the city's public transit network is limited, and most households need a vehicle to get around.
Taxes in San Antonio
Texas has no state individual income tax, which is one of the biggest financial advantages of living in San Antonio compared to most other states — a worker earning $75,000 keeps the entire amount free of state income tax, a difference of several thousand dollars a year compared to states with typical income tax brackets.
The tradeoff shows up elsewhere. The Texas state sales tax is 6.25%, and with local city and county add-ons the average combined sales tax rate statewide is about 8.19%, which applies in San Antonio as well. Property taxes are also comparatively high: the Tax Foundation's approximately 1.4% effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes is a defensible, commonly cited figure, but it sits toward the low end of published estimates — other methodologies put Texas's statewide effective rate closer to 1.6% to 1.68% — and Bexar County homeowners often see combined city, county, school district, and other special-district rates that push the effective burden somewhat higher than the low-end statewide figure.
A living wage vs a comfortable salary
MIT's Living Wage Calculator estimates a single adult with no children in Bexar County needs about $41,624 a year (roughly $20.01 an hour), before taxes, just to cover basic necessities — food, housing, transportation, healthcare, and other minimum costs, with no savings cushion. That's the bare floor, not a comfortable standard of living.
A meaningfully higher, comfortable single-adult budget, based on SmartAsset's 2026 comfortable-salary study (a 50/30/20 needs/wants/savings framework), works out to about $83,242 a year gross — pretax, not take-home — allowing for savings and discretionary spending beyond covering essentials. For a family of four (two adults, two children, one working), MIT estimates a living wage of about $72,804 a year just to meet basic needs, meaning a genuinely comfortable household budget for a family of that size runs closer to $192,608 combined by the SmartAsset 2026 methodology.
Who San Antonio suits
San Antonio tends to work well for remote workers and retirees drawn by the combination of no state income tax, below-average housing and utility costs, and a lower overall cost of living than most major U.S. metros. New grads and early-career workers can also find that entry-level salaries stretch further here than in higher-cost cities, particularly if they're willing to rent rather than buy right away.
It can be harder on households that need strong public transit, since the city is car-dependent and lacks the rail infrastructure of some peer metros. Workers in fields with limited local demand — certain specialized tech or finance roles, for instance — may also find salaries here lag what similar positions pay in Austin or Dallas, even though the lower cost of living offsets some of that gap.
How San Antonio compares
San Antonio is consistently one of the more affordable large metros in Texas. Austin, about 80 miles north, has notably higher housing costs and home prices, driven by its tech-sector job market, making San Antonio a common choice for people who want Central Texas living at a lower price point. Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston both carry somewhat higher housing costs and comparable or higher sales tax burdens, while offering broader job markets in finance, energy, and corporate sectors.
Compared to those peer metros, San Antonio's median home values and typical rents remain lower, its utility costs are meaningfully cheaper, and its median household income is also somewhat lower — reflecting a labor market weighted toward healthcare, military, tourism, and government employment rather than the higher-paying corporate and tech sectors that lift incomes (and costs) in Austin and Dallas. Consistent with that affordability edge, SmartAsset's 2026 study found San Antonio has the lowest comfortable-salary threshold of any large U.S. metro it ranked.
Frequently asked questions
Is $70,000 a good salary in San Antonio?
Yes, with some nuance. In 2024 the city's median household income was about $65,000, so a single earner at $70,000 sits above the local median and well clear of MIT's living-wage threshold of roughly $41,600 a year (pretax) for one adult in Bexar County.
It falls short, however, of the approximately $83,242 gross salary that SmartAsset's 2026 comfortable-salary study estimates a single adult needs in San Antonio to comfortably cover a 50/30/20 budget (needs, wants, and savings) — that figure is pretax, not a take-home number.
Because Texas has no state income tax, $70,000 in take-home pay still goes further here than the same salary would in most other large metros, comfortably covering rent (a typical one-bedroom apartment runs roughly $950 to $1,225 a month in 2025-2026 data), a car payment, groceries, and some savings, even if it leaves less of a cushion than the SmartAsset comfortable-salary benchmark implies.
It would feel tighter for a household supporting dependents: MIT estimates a household of two adults (one working) with two children needs about $72,804 a year before taxes just to cover basic costs in Bexar County.
How much do you need to live comfortably in San Antonio?
Using SmartAsset's 2026 comfortable-salary study, which applies a 50/30/20 budget (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings) to local costs, a single adult in San Antonio needs a gross, pretax salary of about $83,242 to live comfortably — notably, San Antonio had the lowest such threshold of any large U.S. metro in the 2026 study, and the figure is about $3,500 lower than the prior year's estimate.
A family of four (two adults, two children) needs a combined gross household income of roughly $192,608 by the same 2026 methodology.
Those comfortable-salary figures sit well above the bare-necessities living wage of about $41,600 (pretax) that MIT's Living Wage Calculator estimates for one adult with no dependents in Bexar County, since a 'comfortable' budget builds in real savings and discretionary spending rather than just covering essentials.
Does Texas have state income tax?
No. Texas is one of a small number of states with no individual income tax, so San Antonio residents keep more of each paycheck than workers earning the same salary in most other states.
The tradeoff is that Texas leans more heavily on other taxes: the state sales tax is 6.25%, and with local add-ons the average combined state-and-local sales tax rate is about 8.19%.
Property taxes are also relatively high. The Tax Foundation's approximately 1.4% effective rate on owner-occupied homes is a commonly cited figure but sits toward the low end of published estimates — other methodologies put Texas's statewide effective property tax rate closer to 1.6% to 1.68% — and Bexar County rates can run above even that depending on the specific city, county, school district, and special-district levies layered on a property.
Is housing expensive in San Antonio?
No, housing in San Antonio runs below the national average. Based on BEA Regional Price Parity data, San Antonio's housing costs sit about 5% below the U.S. average (index of 95 versus a national baseline of 100).
Rents vary by source and have been trending gently downward: 2025-2026 data puts a typical one-bedroom apartment at roughly $950 to $1,225 a month and a two-bedroom at roughly $1,200 to $1,400, with citywide rents down on the order of 2% year-over-year as new apartment supply has caught up with demand.
The median home value in the city was about $235,700 in 2024, though prices vary meaningfully by neighborhood and have been rising faster than rents in recent years.
- ·U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities by metro — All-items and category price levels vs the US average, 2024
- ·BEA Regional Price Parities by State and Metro Area — All-items 95, housing 95, goods 94, utilities 82, other services 96 for San Antonio metro
- ·SmartAsset — Salary Needed to Live Comfortably in U.S. Cities, 2026 Study — 2026 gross/pretax comfortable-salary figures for single adults ($83,242) and families of four ($192,608) in San Antonio
- ·MIT Living Wage Calculator — Bexar County, Texas — Current living wage figures for one adult ($41,624) and two adults/two children households ($72,804/$96,287), updated February 2026
- ·Tax Foundation — 2026 Texas Tax Rates & Rankings — Texas effective property tax rate (~1.4%, low end) and combined state/local sales tax rate
- ·U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey — San Antonio median household income and home value estimates
- ·RentCafe — Average Rent in San Antonio, TX, 2026 — 2025-2026 one- and two-bedroom rent ranges and year-over-year trend
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