Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Amarillo's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Amarillo?
Your $100,000 in Amarillo has the same purchasing power as $114,456 in the average US city. You'd need $14,456 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Amarillo's cost index of 87, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Amarillo usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, wage income stays untaxed at the state level, plus 3 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Amarillo sits at 87 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 13% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $997/mo against a typical household income of $60,628, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Wage income in Amarillo isn't taxed at the state level. Texas is one of the few US states with no income tax, which is one of the reasons people relocating from high-tax states tend to land here in the first place.
At about 3.5% unemployment, Amarillo's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Amarillo's air quality index averages about 34 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Amarillo is about 19 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Amarillo's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 26°F, Amarillo sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Amarillo averages about 26°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Amarillo averages about 91°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Amarillo's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Amarillo is at about 3,668 feet (1,118 m) — high enough that newcomers from sea level sometimes feel a touch winded the first few days, dehydrate faster than expected, and notice that water boils a little quicker. Acclimation is usually a week or so.
Higher than average. Amarillo reports about 4,281 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Amarillo's composite cost-of-living index is 87, roughly 13% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Mostly car-dependent. Amarillo's Walk Score of 42/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest. Transit Score is 33 out of 100.
Roughly $61,159 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Amarillo runs about $997/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.