Midland, TX
Midland, TX Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Midland, TX Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Midland ranks 31st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 58th for income. A household earns $89,627 a year while median rent runs $1,558/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (5th of 300), while rent is the soft spot (222nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 222nd and home prices 157th 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 Midland, your take-home is worth about $64,013 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
- 58th of 300↑8.4%$89,627
- 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.
- 163rd of 30096 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $93,573
- Per-capita income
- $47,160
- Full-time pay
- $50,455
Housing
- Median rent
- 222nd of 300↑10%$1,558/mo
- Home value
- 157th of 300↑18.9%$313,200
- Property tax
- $3,486/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 8.20%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 5th of 3002.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 174th of 30031.8%
- Avg commute
- 109th of 30023.2 min
People
- Population
- 188,071
- Population change
- +2.9%
- Median age
- 33.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 12.9%
- Broadband
- 93.1%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 88th of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 214th of 30020.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 19.8%
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
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Rent
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — midland odessa.
What jobs pay in Midland
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $174,040
- Financial managers
- $172,520
- Lawyers
- $163,090
- Pharmacists
- $161,260
- General & operations managers
- $132,420
- Software developers
- $126,190
- Accountants & auditors
- $100,890
- Civil engineers
- $95,480
- Registered nurses
- $82,120
- Police officers
- $80,260
- Secondary school teachers
- $65,540
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,350
- Carpenters
- $60,830
- Plumbers
- $60,700
- Electricians
- $59,530
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,200
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,880
- Customer service reps
- $44,890
- Construction laborers
- $39,500
- Janitors
- $35,010
- Retail salespersons
- $33,660
- Cashiers
- $30,140
- Waiters & waitresses
- $23,700
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 Midland 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.
- New Mexico1,206
- Louisiana453
- California314
- Kansas264
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Midland
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Midland metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Midland metro?
- Median gross rent across the Midland, TX Metro Area is $1,558 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Midland.
- What is the median household income in the Midland metro?
- A typical household in the Midland, TX Metro Area earns $89,627 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Midland expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Midland, TX Metro Area runs about 4% 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 Midland metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $93,573 (versus its face value of $89,627). CityLedger rates the Midland, TX Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Midland metro?
- The median home value across the Midland, TX Metro Area is $313,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Midland metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Midland, TX Metro Area is 2.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).