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Texas cities where your poverty wage stretches farthest

Texan Families Need $208K to Stop Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck: Study Yeah, sure, tell that to my mom who's struggling on minimum wage. LOL, good one! It's like these "experts" expect us to be swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck just to get by. Texas, where everything's bigger, including the joke of a wage needed to live.

Published August 9, 2024 at 6:02am by Isabela Ocampo Restrepo

Texas Cities Ranked by Salary Needed to Live 'Comfortably,' AKA Not Eating Instant Ramen 3 Times a Day

You need to be making bank to live comfortably in Texas, according to a recent study by Smartasset. And by "comfortably," I mean not living paycheck to paycheck and maybe having enough to buy something other than instant ramen and cheap beer.

The study ranked 99 U.S. cities based on the 50/30/20 budget rule, which says that if you want to be comfortable, you should spend 50% of your income on necessities like rent (so you don't end up living in a dumpster), food (good luck finding something other than ramen), and transportation (you know, to escape your miserable life once in a while).

So, Where Can You Afford to Not Be Miserable in Texas?

Houston: If you want to live comfortably in Houston, you better be raking in $75,088 a year. That's the price of being able to afford a shoddy apartment and not having to take the bus everywhere.

El Paso: Close behind is El Paso, where you need $75,254 a year. At least you can cry into your tequila because you're broke while enjoying some decent Mexican food.

Lubbock: In Lubbock, you'll need an hourly wage of at least $36.24, which comes out to $75,379 a year. That's the cost of pretending you're not in Lubbock.

Laredo: This border town will set you back a bit more, with a comfortable salary of $78,458 yearly. Might as well just cross the border and live like a king in Mexico with that kind of money.

Corpus Christi: With an hourly wage of $39.66, you might be able to afford a beach vacation to forget your miserable life. But at $82,493 yearly, you'll still be crying into your beach beer.

San Antonio: This tourist trap will cost you over $85,000 a year to live comfortably. That's the price of avoiding the Alamo and all the tourists.

Dallas, Plano, Irving, and Garland: Want to live near Big D? Prepare to shell out $91,700 a year. At least you can pretend to be a cowboy and drown your sorrows in overpriced cocktails.

Fort Worth and Arlington: These cities will set you back $94,765 annually. The cost of pretending to be a cowboy goes up here.

Austin: Last but not least, Austin takes the cake as the most expensive Texas city. You'll need almost $100k a year to live here without wanting to throw yourself into the Colorado River.

So, there you have it, the sad reality of living comfortably in Texas. Unless you're raking in the big bucks, you might as well kiss your dreams of a comfortable life goodbye.