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

What housing costs in Midland

A one-bedroom in Midland rents for a median of $1,226 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $1,588 and a three-bedroom for $1,808. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $19,056.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $309,400. That is only 3.3× the area's median household income of $92,952, a low ratio by national standards.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Midland's overall prices at 95.8 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $104,403 would elsewhere.

How much you need to earn in Midland

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $45,000, Okay at $89,000 and Comfortable at $180,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 11% of income and the median home is 1.7× income.

The Royal grade is within reach at $577,000 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 Midland shows the matching grade.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Midland

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 44 and a three-bedroom 38, both Tight; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Comfortable is above every row of the table here. At $150,000 a two-bedroom still grades Okay, with rent taking 13% of income.

Midland compared with every US metro

On price level Midland is 150th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 53rd, and on median home value 139th. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices near the middle and rent in the top quarter.

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT ($1,593) and Colorado Springs, CO ($1,586) bracket Midland on two-bedroom rent.

Midland in a Texas context

How Midland stacks up against its state: $1,588 for a two-bedroom against Texas's $1,395, $309,400 for the median home against $283,800, and a price level of 95.8 against 97.1.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $166,000 — below Midland's $180,000 line.

The nearest matches in Texas, judged on rent and price parity together, are Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, and San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX.

Does the typical Midland income clear the bar?

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $92,952, which grades Okay (46) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Put differently, Midland's typical household is $87,048 below the $180,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. For Texas as a whole, the median household income of $78,476 scores 44 against statewide rents. 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.