Odessa, TX
Odessa, TX Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Odessa, TX Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Odessa ranks 118th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 132nd for income. A household earns $78,058 a year while median rent runs $1,337/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is air quality (23rd of 300), while health is the soft spot (290th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 173rd and home prices 46th 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 Odessa, your take-home is worth about $65,299 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
- 132nd of 300↑16.1%$78,058
- 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.
- 138th of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,132
- Per-capita income
- $39,269
- Full-time pay
- $50,563
Housing
- Median rent
- 173rd of 300↑17.2%$1,337/mo
- Home value
- 46th of 300↑30.7%$214,500
- Property tax
- $2,518/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 8.20%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 99th of 3003.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 290th of 30020.2%
- Avg commute
- 170th of 30024.7 min
People
- Population
- 170,022
- Population change
- +2.3%
- Median age
- 31.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 18.9%
- Broadband
- 91.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 23rd of 30036
- Natural-hazard loss
- 121st of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 290th of 30026.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 27.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, 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
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — odessa schlemeyer fld.
What jobs pay in Odessa
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Financial managers
- $152,200
- IT managers
- $146,830
- Pharmacists
- $141,260
- Lawyers
- $133,340
- Software developers
- $127,080
- General & operations managers
- $104,100
- Registered nurses
- $81,370
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,260
- Civil engineers
- $78,660
- Secondary school teachers
- $66,620
- Family medicine physicians
- $65,530
- Elementary school teachers
- $63,020
- Plumbers
- $61,870
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,370
- Electricians
- $57,110
- Carpenters
- $52,260
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,290
- Customer service reps
- $39,270
- Construction laborers
- $38,380
- Janitors
- $37,320
- Retail salespersons
- $30,320
- Cashiers
- $29,000
- Waiters & waitresses
- $22,600
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 Odessa 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.
- California680
- New Mexico479
- Florida413
- Mississippi396
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Odessa
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Odessa metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Odessa metro?
- Median gross rent across the Odessa, TX Metro Area is $1,337 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Odessa.
- What is the median household income in the Odessa metro?
- A typical household in the Odessa, TX Metro Area earns $78,058 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Odessa expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Odessa, TX Metro Area runs about 6% 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 Odessa metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,132 (versus its face value of $78,058). CityLedger rates the Odessa, TX Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Odessa metro?
- The median home value across the Odessa, TX Metro Area is $214,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Odessa metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Odessa, TX Metro Area is 3.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).