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This is the salary you need to live comfortably in Austin in 2026

money, salary, income to live comfortably, SmartAsset

Single Austinites need to make almost $99,000 to live comfortably in the city, the report found.

A new report analyzing how much it costs to live "in sustainable comfort" in the biggest U.S. cities has found Austin residents are getting a break this year: Single Austinites need to make $3,037 less than they did in 2025 to live comfortably in the city.

Austin ranked No. 67 in SmartAsset's national report of the cities with the highest salary needed to live comfortably in 2026. Single adult residents need to make $98,550 this year to qualify as "financially stable." Last year, single Austinites needed to make $101,587 for the same designation.

Families with two working parents and two children need to make a household income of $229,050 to have a financially stable life in Austin, the report found. That's $4,326 less than what families needed to make last year.

To determine the rankings, SmartAsset's analysts examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities and used the latest cost of living data – such as the costs for housing, food, transportation, and income taxes where applicable – from the MIT Living Wage Calculator for childless individuals and for two working adults with two children.

For the purpose of the study, the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy was used to determine "comfortable lifestyle" costs for both individuals and families: 50 percent of income to cover needs and living expenses, 30 percent for "wants," and 20 percent for savings or paying down debt.

Here's breakdown of an Austin resident's comfortable lifestyle based on SmartAsset's findings:

$49,275 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$29,565 dedicated to wants
$19,710 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

This is SmartAsset's interpretation of a comfortable lifestyle for families of four:

$114,525 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$68,715 dedicated to wants
$45,810 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

SmartAsset said single individuals and families should compare the fluctuating local cost of living and their long-term goals to fully "understand the context" of their respective household incomes. But it's worth pointing out that a financially stable life in Austin isn't quite attainable for many residents: The city had a median household income of $90,430 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Comfortable salaries in other Texas cities
Elsewhere in Texas, the report found that families in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs Frisco and McKinney "are closest to a comfortable salary."

"In Frisco, [Texas], the median household earns $145,444 – substantially higher than the national median of $83,730," the report's author wrote. "This figure also accounts for 63.1 percent of the $230,464 income a family of four in Frisco needs to live comfortably. In McKinney, TX, the $124,177 median household income accounts for 53.9 percent of the $230,464 needed."

Both cities also tied with Plano for the 29th highest salary needed nationally to live comfortably in 2026. Single adults living in these cities need to make $109,242 a year to live a financially stable life this year.

On the opposite end, San Antonio has the lowest salaries needed to live comfortably in the U.S. Single adults only need to make $83,242 a year, and $192,608 for families of four.

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Street Sales

Austin City Council approves resolution supporting front yard businesses

Photo by Zoe Richardson on Unsplash

The resolution helps Austinites selling products from home by allowing their businesses to be seen and accessed from the street.

Austinites who really love shopping at small, local businesses may be seeing more of them soon thanks to a new resolution by City Council. Approved Thursday, March 26, it encourages Front Yard Businesses (FYBs) — literally, businesses that people offer from their own yards, like farm and bakery stands.

The resolution emphasizes that commercial real estate costs can keep people who would otherwise have a business from starting one. It also points out that having small businesses within residential neighborhoods enhances walkability. Categories it expects to bolster include "artisanal goods, garden stands for plants, and service windows for small-scale repair services."

The guidelines are built in harmony with Texas state legislation (H.B. 2464 and S.B. 541), which protects “no-impact” home businesses — which means they do not generate traffic or noise, or employ enough people to create trouble with occupancy — as well as cottage food production operations.

However, Austin leaders wanted to take the law one step further; the resolution says, "these laws favor “hidden” commerce over the active, visible neighborhood engagement that defines Austin’s character." The problem was that Land Development Code had banned visible business markers like storefronts and signs. The resolution hopes to "[move] commerce from hidden spare rooms into professional, scale-appropriate ACUs [Accessory Commercial Units] and FYBs."

In practical terms, the resolution allows amendments to the city code to do the following:

Create a new land-use category for businesses up to 200 square feet
Authorize sales by the new ACUs
Prohibit tobacco sales
Allow businesses to operate from front porches, yards, and stands
Remove or lower barriers including car trip limitations, front setback regulations, signage regulations, and more
Create a task force to implement the program
Create a "pink zone" to test the program

The Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) and the nonprofit Homemade Texas have released statements in support of the resolution.

"The proposal before you recognizes something important: small-scale neighborhood commerce is not a problem to be restricted. Rather, it is an asset that strengthens communities," says the letter from Homemade Texas. "Front yard businesses and similar activities help neighbors connect with each other."

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