{"h1":"Best cities for pay after cost of living in Texas","faq":[{"a":"Austin leads Texas for pay after the cost of living: its median posted salary buys what $166k buys at average US prices.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for pay after cost of living in texas?"},{"a":"8 cities have at least 100 openings with pay posted, so the list has 8 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"The score is a city's median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 50 listings that post a salary are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Austin leads Texas for pay after the cost of living: its median posted salary buys what $166k buys at average US prices.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":997,"key":"TX|austin","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/austin","name":"Austin","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$163k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−2%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"997"}],"value":165672.7828746177,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Advanced Micro Devices","Cloudflare"],"valueLabel":"$166k"},{"n":77,"key":"TX|addison","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/addison","name":"Addison","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$150k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"−3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"77"}],"value":154801.7507723996,"change":null,"employers":["National Life Group","National Life Insurance Company","Bank of America"],"valueLabel":"$155k"},{"n":89,"key":"TX|irving","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/irving","name":"Irving","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$133k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"−3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"89"}],"value":137042.7394438723,"change":null,"employers":["CHRISTUS Health","7-Eleven","Mckesson"],"valueLabel":"$137k"},{"n":593,"key":"TX|dallas","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/dallas","name":"Dallas","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$135k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"593"}],"value":130940.8341416101,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Shield AI","Texas Instruments"],"valueLabel":"$131k"},{"n":62,"key":"TX|plano","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/plano","name":"Plano","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$120k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"−3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"62"}],"value":123583.9340885685,"change":null,"employers":["NTT Data","Pepsico","JPMorgan Chase"],"valueLabel":"$124k"},{"n":366,"key":"TX|houston","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/houston","name":"Houston","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$118k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"366"}],"value":119244.4219066937,"change":null,"employers":["Axiom Space","Trinzic","Fervo Energy"],"valueLabel":"$119k"},{"n":113,"key":"TX|san antonio","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/san-antonio","name":"San Antonio","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$110k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−5%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"113"}],"value":116156.282998944,"change":null,"employers":["H-E-B","University Health San Antonio","UT Health San Antonio"],"valueLabel":"$116k"},{"n":138,"key":"TX|fort worth","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/fort-worth","name":"Fort Worth","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$115k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"138"}],"value":111542.1920465568,"change":null,"employers":["Lockheed Martin","MP Materials","Alcon"],"valueLabel":"$112k"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-pay-vs-cost-of-living-in-texas","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"texas","kind":"state","name":"Texas"},"title":"Best cities for pay after cost of living in Texas","family":"Pay","method":["The score is a city's median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100.","Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 50 listings that post a salary are ranked.","A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score."],"builtAt":"2026-11-02T22:01:52.820Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"paycost","sources":["NextChapter job data: posted annual salary ranges","Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024 (metro areas and states)"],"baseline":{"label":"the typical city in our data","valueLabel":"$132k"},"keyFacts":["#1 Austin, TX: $166k","#2 Addison, TX: $155k","#3 Irving, TX: $137k","8 cities ranked in Texas","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["Plano reaches #5 on a sample of 62 openings with pay posted, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","Austin is the largest market in the top ten, with 997 openings with pay posted behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 100 openings with pay posted are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-pay-vs-cost-of-living-in-texas"}