Abilene, TX
Abilene, TX Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Abilene, TX Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Abilene ranks 255th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 254th for income. A household earns $63,390 a year while median rent runs $1,173/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 10% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is home prices (23rd of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (255th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 126th and home prices 23rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Abilene, your take-home is worth about $67,852 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 254th of 300↑15.7%$63,390
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 61st of 30090 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,150
- Per-capita income
- $34,040
- Full-time pay
- $38,937
Housing
- Median rent
- 126th of 300↑32.2%$1,173/mo
- Home value
- 23rd of 300↑42.7%$190,500
- Property tax
- $2,077/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 8.20%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 43rd of 3003.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 233rd of 30026.8%
- Avg commute
- 28th of 30020.5 min
People
- Population
- 181,969
- Population change
- +5.9%
- Median age
- 34.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.3%
- Broadband
- 91.6%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 177th of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 225th of 30021%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 16.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Commute
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — abilene rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Abilene
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $220,400
- IT managers
- $135,670
- Financial managers
- $134,920
- Pharmacists
- $133,660
- Lawyers
- $122,560
- Software developers
- $103,760
- General & operations managers
- $86,200
- Registered nurses
- $80,240
- Police officers
- $76,070
- Accountants & auditors
- $75,410
- Civil engineers
- $73,550
- Secondary school teachers
- $59,990
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $54,720
- Elementary school teachers
- $53,480
- Plumbers
- $51,790
- Electricians
- $47,400
- Carpenters
- $43,030
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $42,940
- Construction laborers
- $38,160
- Customer service reps
- $36,830
- Janitors
- $30,020
- Retail salespersons
- $29,530
- Cashiers
- $27,130
- Waiters & waitresses
- $22,520
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Abilene metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Texas are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Colorado701
- California504
- Florida418
- North Carolina232
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Abilene
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Abilene metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Abilene metro?
- Median gross rent across the Abilene, TX Metro Area is $1,173 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Abilene.
- What is the median household income in the Abilene metro?
- A typical household in the Abilene, TX Metro Area earns $63,390 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Abilene expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Abilene, TX Metro Area runs about 10% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Abilene metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $70,150 (versus its face value of $63,390). CityLedger rates the Abilene, TX Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Abilene metro?
- The median home value across the Abilene, TX Metro Area is $190,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Abilene metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Abilene, TX Metro Area is 3.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).