High School Teacher Salary in Abilene, TX: Median $52,625 in 2026
Abilene (TX) · COL index 83 · Unemployment 3.9% · Metro pop 180,000 · Rank #270 of 283 for High School Teacher salary
A High School Teacher in Abilene earns an estimated median of $52,625 per year. That figure starts from the Texas state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($61,590) and scales it by Abilene's composite cost-of-living index of 83 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $23,215; the 90th percentile reaches $71,081. After federal, Texas state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer High School Teacher takes home approximately $44,413/year — about $3,701/month or $1,708 every other week.
Compared to the national High School Teacher median of $63,060, Abilene pays -16.5%. Relative to the Abilene median household income of $48,200, a High School Teachersalary runs +9.2%. Local unemployment is 3.9%[3], with an estimated 85 annual High School Teacher openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (1,059,100).
High School Teacher Snapshot — Abilene (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Abilene | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| High School Teacher median salary | $52,625 | $63,060 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $23,215 | $49,250 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $71,081 | $100,550 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $44,413 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $208,263 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,771/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,625/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $66,464 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 83.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9% | — | [3] |
How High School Teacher Salaries Work in Abilene
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Texas state-level OEWS median ($61,590) and scaling by Abilene's composite cost-of-living index (83)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and no Texas state income tax — a meaningful wedge worth $2,631–$3,684 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Abilene also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $66,464, which frames what "a good High School Teacher salary" means locally: a $$52,625 wage pays about 79% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Abilene
Estimated annual expense shares on a $44,413 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Abilene's COL index of 83. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Abilene's COL index of 83[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $900/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Abilene
Renting
Buying
At $3,701/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,110/mo. Abilene's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,771/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,625/mo), making rent very affordable on a median High School Teacher salary. For homebuyers, the 3.5× price-to-income ratio is comfortable — a median {p.title} salary supports the median home in {city.name} well inside standard lender DTI caps.
How Abilene Stacks Up for High School Teachers
Against 283 major US cities: Abilene ranks #270 for nominal High School Teacher salary, #80 for rent affordability, and #20 for overall purchasing power. Top-30 purchasing power makes Abilene an attractive salary-to-cost market for High School Teachers — nominal wages stretch further than the sticker numbers suggest.
Nearby Cities — High School Teacher Salary Comparison
Abilene's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene, TX ★ | $52,625 | 83 | $900 | — |
| Houston, TX | $63,691 | 101 | $1,262 | +21.0% |
| Dallas, TX | $66,213 | 105 | $1,275 | +25.8% |
| San Antonio, TX | $58,015 | 92 | $899 | +10.2% |
| Austin, TX | $76,303 | 121 | $1,300 | +45.0% |
| Fort Worth, TX | $62,429 | 99 | $1,354 | +18.6% |
High School Teacher Job Market in Abilene
Abilene has an estimated 85 annual High School Teacheropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 1,059,100 national High School Teachers[1]. The 3.9% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: High school teachers instruct students in core and elective subjects, typically working in public or private schools. Many supplement their income with tutoring or summer work. Typical entry requirement: bachelor's degree plus teaching license. Projected growth through 2034: 1%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Abilene
Early-career High School Teachers in Abilene start around $23,215, reach the city median ($52,625) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($71,081) at senior / specialized levels.
Related education professions in Abilene
Calculators for High School Teachers in Abilene
Other professions in Abilene
Frequently Asked Questions — High School Teacher in Abilene
How much does a High School Teacher make in Abilene, TX?
The estimated median salary for a High School Teacher in Abilene is $52,625/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Texas state median ($61,590) by Abilene's composite cost-of-living index of 83 (US = 100). After federal, Texas state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $44,413/year or $3,701/month.
Can a High School Teacher afford to live in Abilene?
On $3,701/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,110/month. Abilene's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,771/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,625/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 20.5%, making housing very affordable for a High School Teacher at the local median. Home-buyers face 3.5× price-to-income, needing roughly 3.5 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a High School Teacher pay in Abilene?
On $52,625 gross, a High School Teacher in Abilene pays approximately $4,186 in federal income tax (8.0% effective), $0 in state income tax (Texas has no state individual income tax), and $4,026 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 15.6%. Some Texas cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Abilene rank for High School Teacher salaries vs other cities?
Abilene ranks #270 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal High School Teacher salary, #80 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #20 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a High School Teacher in Abilene?
On $44,413 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Abilene looks like: housing $10,800/yr (24.3%); food $4,786/yr; transportation $4,139/yr; healthcare $2,950/yr; utilities $2,032/yr; savings + discretionary $19,706/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Abilene's COL index of 83 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the High School Teacher job market like in Abilene?
Abilene's unemployment rate is 3.9% across the metro of 180,000. Estimated annual High School Teacher openings: ~85 (extrapolated from 1,059,100 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Abilene employers pay above or below the Texas median for High School Teachers?
Not consistently — Abilene's estimated High School Teacher median of $52,625 is 16.5% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Abilene median is derived from the Texas state-level BLS OEWS median ($61,590), scaled by Abilene's composite cost-of-living index of 83. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated High School Teachermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Texas's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 83index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 97.1(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Texas Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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