What salary do you need to live in McAllen, TX?

Rent, home values and prices in McAllen

Renters in McAllen pay a median $956 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $716, three bedrooms $1,138, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $5,064 a year.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX at $140,900. That is only 2.6× the area's median household income of $54,338, a low ratio by national standards.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 85.9 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in McAllen has the buying power of roughly $116,421 at national average prices.

McAllen: the pre-tax income for each grade

For two bedrooms, $76,000 is where McAllen turns Comfortable. Below that, $38,000 marks the start of Okay and $15,000 the start of Tight; under $15,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 15% of gross pay.

The Royal grade is within reach at $227,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and McAllen shows the matching grade.

Four salaries, three home sizes in McAllen

At $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 69 (Comfortable), a two-bedroom 65 (Okay) and a three-bedroom 62 (Okay). The $5,064 a year between the smallest and largest home is what moves the grade.

Of the four salaries, $100,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $75,000 still lands at Okay.

McAllen compared with every US metro

Out of 387 metros, McAllen has the 369th highest price parity and the 328th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the bottom 10% on overall prices and in the bottom quarter on rent.

Next to McAllen on the national rent ranking: Hot Springs, AR ($958) and Rome, GA ($954).

McAllen vs. the rest of Texas

How McAllen stacks up against its state: $956 for a two-bedroom against Texas's $1,395, $140,900 for the median home against $283,800, and a price level of 85.9 against 97.1.

The Texas figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $166,000 against $76,000 for McAllen.

Within Texas, the metros closest to McAllen on rent and overall prices are Texarkana, TX-AR, Wichita Falls, TX, and Laredo, TX. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $78,000, $88,000, and $91,000.

Where the typical McAllen household lands

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $54,338, which grades Okay (56) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Reaching Comfortable would take $21,662 more than the median household earns. Statewide, the Texas median household ($78,476) grades Tight on the state's own medians. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.