What salary do you need to live in San Antonio, TX?

San Antonio housing costs at a glance

Census figures put the median gross rent in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metro at $1,146 for a one-bedroom, $1,389 for a two-bedroom and $1,674 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $243 a month, and the third bedroom another $285.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $278,800. With median household income at $76,213, a typical home costs 3.7× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 94.7, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 5.3% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $105,579 would at average US prices.

How much you need to earn in San Antonio

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $39,000 for Tight, $77,000 for Okay and $155,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $78,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Royal, the top band, starts at $482,000. At that income rent is 3% of pay and the median home 0.6× income.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

San Antonio at four common salaries

Home size shifts the grade at $75,000: Okay for one bedroom, Tight for two and Tight for three, as the rent share climbs from 18% to 27%.

None of the four salaries reaches Comfortable for two bedrooms; even $150,000 scores 64, Okay, which fits the $155,000 line above.

San Antonio compared with every US metro

On price level San Antonio is 173rd of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 102nd, and on median home value 175th. The two rankings agree, both falling near the middle.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL ($1,390) and Lancaster, PA ($1,381).

San Antonio vs. the rest of Texas

How San Antonio stacks up against its state: $1,389 for a two-bedroom against Texas's $1,395, $278,800 for the median home against $283,800, and a price level of 94.7 against 97.1.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $166,000 — above San Antonio's $155,000 line.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Texas? Odessa, TX, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, and Corpus Christi, TX have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

The median San Antonio household

A household at the San Antonio median income of $76,213 would see a two-bedroom score of 45 — Tight — with rent at 22% of income. Put differently, San Antonio's typical household is $78,787 below the $155,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. Statewide, the Texas median household ($78,476) grades Tight on the state's own medians. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.