Waco, TX
Waco, TX Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Waco, TX Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Waco ranks 218th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 218th for income. A household earns $67,792 a year while median rent runs $1,238/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (14th of 300), while health is the soft spot (255th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 144th and home prices 122nd 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 Waco, your take-home is worth about $66,249 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
- 218th of 300↑34.6%$67,792
- 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.
- 99th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $73,249
- Per-capita income
- $35,780
- Full-time pay
- $39,527
Housing
- Median rent
- 144th of 300↑41.2%$1,238/mo
- Home value
- 122nd of 300↑71.8%$277,100
- Property tax
- $3,071/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 8.20%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 29th of 3003%
- Bachelor's+
- 214th of 30028.8%
- Avg commute
- 45th of 30021.1 min
People
- Population
- 305,814
- Population change
- +12.9%
- Median age
- 35.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.3%
- Broadband
- 91.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 255th of 30053
- Natural-hazard loss
- 14th of 300$7/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 255th of 30022.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 17.2%
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
- + Cost of living
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Air quality
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — waco rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Waco
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $235,710
- Pharmacists
- $150,710
- IT managers
- $141,810
- Financial managers
- $134,010
- Lawyers
- $130,230
- Software developers
- $123,080
- General & operations managers
- $92,990
- Registered nurses
- $92,890
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,140
- Police officers
- $75,850
- Civil engineers
- $75,120
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,210
- Elementary school teachers
- $59,100
- Plumbers
- $57,550
- Electricians
- $48,880
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $48,780
- Carpenters
- $47,340
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,110
- Customer service reps
- $38,810
- Construction laborers
- $37,610
- Janitors
- $32,550
- Retail salespersons
- $29,810
- Cashiers
- $28,610
- Waiters & waitresses
- $23,010
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 Waco 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.
- California1,346
- Colorado765
- Illinois743
- Florida495
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Waco
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Waco metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Waco metro?
- Median gross rent across the Waco, TX Metro Area is $1,238 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Waco.
- What is the median household income in the Waco metro?
- A typical household in the Waco, TX Metro Area earns $67,792 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Waco expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Waco, TX Metro Area runs about 7% 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 Waco metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $73,249 (versus its face value of $67,792). CityLedger rates the Waco, TX Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Waco metro?
- The median home value across the Waco, TX Metro Area is $277,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Waco metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Waco, TX Metro Area is 3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).