High School Teacher Salary in Brownsville, TX: Median $50,723 in 2026
Brownsville (TX) · COL index 80 · Unemployment 5.8% · Metro pop 430,000 · Rank #276 of 283 for High School Teacher salary
A High School Teacher in Brownsville earns an estimated median of $50,723 per year. That figure starts from the Texas state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($61,590) and scales it by Brownsville's composite cost-of-living index of 80 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $22,376; the 90th percentile reaches $68,511. After federal, Texas state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer High School Teacher takes home approximately $42,885/year — about $3,574/month or $1,649 every other week.
Compared to the national High School Teacher median of $63,060, Brownsville pays -19.6%. Relative to the Brownsville median household income of $40,200, a High School Teachersalary runs +26.2%. Local unemployment is 5.8%[3], with an estimated 204 annual High School Teacher openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (1,059,100).
High School Teacher Snapshot — Brownsville (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 | Brownsville | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| High School Teacher median salary | $50,723 | $63,060 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $22,376 | $49,250 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $68,511 | $100,550 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $42,885 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $205,777 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,446/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,325/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $51,334 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 80.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 5.8% | — | [3] |
How High School Teacher Salaries Work in Brownsville
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 Brownsville's composite cost-of-living index (80)[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 $2,536–$3,551 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Brownsville also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $51,334, which frames what "a good High School Teacher salary" means locally: a $$50,723 wage pays about 99% 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 — Brownsville
Estimated annual expense shares on a $42,885 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Brownsville's COL index of 80. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Brownsville's COL index of 80[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $825/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Brownsville
Renting
Buying
At $3,574/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,072/mo. Brownsville's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,446/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,325/mo), making rent very affordable on a median High School Teacher salary. For homebuyers, the 3.2× 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 Brownsville Stacks Up for High School Teachers
Against 283 major US cities: Brownsville ranks #276 for nominal High School Teacher salary, #42 for rent affordability, and #4 for overall purchasing power. Top-30 purchasing power makes Brownsville 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
Brownsville'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville, TX ★ | $50,723 | 80 | $825 | — |
| Houston, TX | $63,691 | 101 | $1,262 | +25.6% |
| Dallas, TX | $66,213 | 105 | $1,275 | +30.5% |
| San Antonio, TX | $58,015 | 92 | $899 | +14.4% |
| Austin, TX | $76,303 | 121 | $1,300 | +50.4% |
| Fort Worth, TX | $62,429 | 99 | $1,354 | +23.1% |
High School Teacher Job Market in Brownsville
Brownsville has an estimated 204 annual High School Teacheropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 1,059,100 national High School Teachers[1]. The 5.8% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
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 Brownsville
Early-career High School Teachers in Brownsville start around $22,376, reach the city median ($50,723) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($68,511) at senior / specialized levels.
Related education professions in Brownsville
Calculators for High School Teachers in Brownsville
Other professions in Brownsville
Frequently Asked Questions — High School Teacher in Brownsville
How much does a High School Teacher make in Brownsville, TX?
The estimated median salary for a High School Teacher in Brownsville is $50,723/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Texas state median ($61,590) by Brownsville's composite cost-of-living index of 80 (US = 100). After federal, Texas state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $42,885/year or $3,574/month.
Can a High School Teacher afford to live in Brownsville?
On $3,574/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,072/month. Brownsville's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,446/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,325/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 19.5%, making housing very affordable for a High School Teacher at the local median. Home-buyers face 3.2× price-to-income, needing roughly 3.2 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a High School Teacher pay in Brownsville?
On $50,723 gross, a High School Teacher in Brownsville pays approximately $3,958 in federal income tax (7.8% effective), $0 in state income tax (Texas has no state individual income tax), and $3,880 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 15.5%. Some Texas cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Brownsville rank for High School Teacher salaries vs other cities?
Brownsville ranks #276 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal High School Teacher salary, #42 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #4 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 Brownsville?
On $42,885 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Brownsville looks like: housing $9,900/yr (23.1%); food $4,529/yr; transportation $3,945/yr; healthcare $2,822/yr; utilities $1,930/yr; savings + discretionary $19,759/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Brownsville's COL index of 80 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the High School Teacher job market like in Brownsville?
Brownsville's unemployment rate is 5.8% across the metro of 430,000. Estimated annual High School Teacher openings: ~204 (extrapolated from 1,059,100 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Brownsville employers pay above or below the Texas median for High School Teachers?
Not consistently — Brownsville's estimated High School Teacher median of $50,723 is 19.6% 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 Brownsville median is derived from the Texas state-level BLS OEWS median ($61,590), scaled by Brownsville's composite cost-of-living index of 80. 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 80index 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 2026-06-15.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
- Texas Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
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