Here's what a $100,000 salary actually gets you in 25 Texas cities

4 weeks ago 42

Texas flag in the foreground and buildings in the background

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  • Business Insider looked at the purchasing power of a six-figure salary in different Texas cities.
  • We adjusted $100,000 for Texas' 25 metro areas using cost of living data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  • Based on 2023 data, the purchasing power of $100,000 would be $102,438 in the Austin metro area.

One of Texas' big draws for the thousands of Americans who move there each year is its relatively low cost of living.

However, purchasing power isn't the same across Texas metros. If you had $100,000 in Austin, it wouldn't have the same value as in Longview, Corpus Christi, and other places in the state.

To compare people's purchasing power depending on where they are, Business Insider calculated what $100,000 means for each Texas metropolitan statistical area when adjusted by its regional price parity. That gives a sense of how much $100,000 at national average prices would actually buy in those cities based on their local cost of living.

Most of the 25 metros in the state had regional price parities below 100 in 2023, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed. That means their price levels were less than the national average.

"Whether you are considering a job offer in a more expensive city, looking for an affordable place to retire, or are just curious about how price levels compare between different parts of the country, our regional price parities can help," Vipin Arora, the director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a December post.

Texas has long been an attractive state for movers. Census Bureau data showed Texas had the largest positive net domestic migration — or the biggest number of people moving in from elsewhere in the US minus people leaving Texas for another state — from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, among states.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that many kinds of healthcare workers make over $100,000 on average in Texas. Ship engineers, postsecondary business teachers, and management analysts are a few of the other jobs that make over $100,000 on average in the Lone Star State.

The Dallas metro area had the highest regional price parity among the 25 Texas metros. Given the regional price parity for Dallas was 103.3 in 2023, that would mean the adjusted value of $100,000 at average national prices equals around $96,800 in that city.

Below is what $100,000 is worth in cities across Texas, ranked from lowest adjusted value to highest. We also included the 2023 regional price parity for each metro in Texas.

25. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

Dallas, Texas

Dallas. f11photo/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 103.293

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $96,812

24. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land

Houston, Texas

Houston. ANDREY DENISYUK/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 100.220

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $99,780

23. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown

Texas State Capitol in Austin

Texas State Capitol in Austin. Duy Do/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 97.620

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $102,438

22. Midland

Midland, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 94.761

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $105,529

21. San Antonio-New Braunfels

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio. Sean Pavone/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 93.727

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $106,693

20. Tyler

Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, Texas

Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, Texas. BOB WESTON/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 92.386

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,242

19. Odessa

Odessa, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 92.056

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,630

18. Sherman-Denison

Water tower that says Sherman on it

Edward H. Campbell/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 91.804

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,928

17. Killeen-Temple

Killeen, Texas

Killeen. Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 91.761

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,979

16. Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas

Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 91.306

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $109,522

14 (tie). San Angelo

Eggemeyer's General Store in San Angelo, Texas

Holger Leue/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.869

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,049

14 (tie). Lubbock

Lubbock, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.869

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,049

13. Amarillo

Amarillo, Texas

halbergman/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.812

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,118

12. Waco

Waco, Texas

Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 90.786

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,149

11. College Station-Bryan

College Station, Texas

College Station. TriciaDaniel/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.701

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,252

10. Victoria

Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas

Tricia Daniel/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 90.631

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,338

9. El Paso

El Paso, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.241

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,814

8. Beaumont-Port Arthur

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont. halbergman/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 90.238

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,818

7. Abilene

Buildings in Abilene, Texas

Aaron Yoder/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 89.849

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $111,298

6. Wichita Falls

Buildings in Wichita Falls, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 88.914

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $112,468

5. Longview

Pelaia Plaza in Longview, Texas

Nina Alizada/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 88.417

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $113,100

4. Laredo

Laredo, Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 87.786

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $113,913

3. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

McAllen City Hall in Texas

DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 85.555

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $116,884

2. Texarkana

A sign that shows the state of Texas on the left, Arkansas on the right, says "state line" in the middle of it, and says "Texarkana" above that

K.Woolf/Shutterstock

Regional price parity: 85.308

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $117,222

1. Brownsville-Harlingen

Buildings in Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville. DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Regional price parity: 85.183

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $117,394

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