AnswerIn Austin, the median household income is $86,556. To rank in the top 20%, you need to earn more than $190,000. Top 5%: $380,000.
Median: $86,556 · Top 20%: $190,000 · Top 5%: $380,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates
Austin Income Percentile Calculator [2026]
Where Austin, Texashouseholds rank by income — sourced from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates, covering roughly 974,447 residents.
AI engineer building pSEO financial tools. Data sourced from the Federal Reserve (SCF), US Census Bureau (ACS), and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Quick answer: In Austin, TX, the median household income is $86,556. The bottom 20% earns under $32,000; the top 20% threshold is $190,000; the top 5% starts at $380,000. Median rent is $1,696/month and the median home value is $551,200. A $100,000 household income ranks at roughly the 55th percentile locally.
Key stats for Austin
Income percentile breakpoints — Austin
- 20th percentile (bottom quintile)
- $32,000
- 40th percentile
- $63,000
- Median (≈ 50th–60th percentile)
- $112,000
- 80th percentile (top 20%)
- $190,000
- 95th percentile (top 5%)
- $380,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates. City-level p60 is used as the "median-ish" row because ACS quintile upper limits bracket the household median near p60 for most big US cities.
Local economic context — Austin
Austin is the income distribution that shifted the fastest in the 2020s, and also the one where the bill came due fastest. Tesla's Gigafactory Texas in southeast Austin is the headline anchor — Elon moved the HQ here in 2021 and the plant ramp pulled tens of thousands of manufacturing and engineering jobs. Dell remains the old-guard anchor in Round Rock. Apple's north Austin campus expansion and Samsung Austin Semiconductor's chip fab (with the Taylor expansion coming online) are the other two legs of the semiconductor-plus-tech tripod. Google, Meta, Oracle (its new HQ is along the Colorado River), and a long tail of venture-backed startups populate the downtown and East Austin ecosystems. The University of Texas at Austin is a genuine research engine, not a lifestyle appendage. Housing is the story: Austin median single-family prices spiked over 60% from 2020 through peak-2022, then corrected 12-18% through 2023 and 2024 as remote-work migration slowed and rates hit 7%. A 3BR in Mueller, Zilker, or decent Central Austin still runs $850K-$1.4M. Suburbs (Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Pflugerville) are where top-20% earners actually buy. Property taxes near 2.2% of appraised value make monthly carry painful even after the price correction. Commute reality is I-35 (a chronic disaster), MoPac (Loop 1), and US-183, plus the single-line Red Line commuter rail which helps nobody. Cost-of-living caveat: BEA RPP for Austin metro has climbed to roughly 103-104% of national — Austin is no longer a cost-of-living bargain relative to Dallas or Houston, though zero state income tax still matters.
What this income feels like in Austin
Top 20% in Austin feels like arriving five years late to a party you still can't afford to leave. You rent a 1BR in East Austin or a condo in Mueller, you complain about I-35, and you half-seriously run the numbers on moving to San Antonio or Huntsville. Groceries at HEB feel reasonable; anywhere else feels coastal-priced now. Childcare runs $1,700-$2,300/month and the waitlists for decent daycares are Austin-specific absurd. The 2022 buyers are underwater, the 2019 buyers are sitting on gold, and the top-20% earner who got here in 2024 is renting and watching.
Top 20% reality check — Austin
- You can afford a 1BR in East Austin or Mueller solo, but the friends who bought a Clarksville bungalow in 2019 now have 2x your net worth and a 3% mortgage.
- A $180K household income clears top 20% in Austin but feels middle-class in Westlake or Tarrytown, where $2M-$4M single-families are the neighborhood floor.
- Your property-tax bill on an $850K home runs $17K-$20K annually — Austin's appreciation tax is the offset to zero state income tax, and it's not close to even.
Cost-of-living reality — Austin
The median gross rent in Austin is $1,696/month, or roughly 23.5% of the median household income on an annualized basis. The national rent-burden average is about 30%, and anything north of that is treated as rent-burdened by HUD. Austin's median home value is $551,200, a price-to-income ratio of 6.4× — healthy markets run 3–4×, expensive coastal markets routinely exceed 6×. Mean one-way commute is 25.8 minutes, which compounds the real cost of living here for anyone not working remote.
Nearby cities
Other nearby places: Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville (benchmark pages coming soon).
Austin community discussions
Local subreddits where cost-of-living and income questions get answered by residents. External links, opens in new tab.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good income in Austin?
In Austin, TX, the median household income is $86,556. Earning above $112,000 puts you in the top 40%, and clearing $190,000 places you in the top 20%. A "good" income depends on household size and housing choice, but $190,000 is a useful upper-middle-class threshold for this city.
How does Austin's median income compare to the US?
Austin's median household income of $86,556 is about 16.1% higher than the US median of $74,580 (ACS 2023). Raw comparisons understate local cost-of-living; Austin's median rent of $1,696 and median home value of $551,200 are the relevant offsets.
What percentile is $100K in Austin?
A household income of $100,000 ranks at roughly the 55th percentile in Austin. That is interpolated from the local ACS quintile breakpoints: p20 $32,000, p40 $63,000, p60 $112,000, p80 $190,000, p95 $380,000.
Is Austin expensive to live in?
Median gross rent in Austin is $1,696/month, which is 23.5% of the median household income on an annualized basis — compared to the national rent-burden average of about 30%. The median home value is $551,200, a price-to-income ratio of 6.4× (healthy markets run 3-4×, expensive markets 6×+).
How is this calculated?
Figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-year estimates for Austin, Texas. Income percentiles are city-level approximations derived from ACS B19080 household income quintile upper limits, interpolated from the local median and distribution. Rent burden uses B25071 (median gross rent as % of household income) and mean commute uses B08303.
Methodology & data sources
Calculations on this page use published benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between published cells. Figures are in current-year USD unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.