How Much Does It Cost to Live in Austin? A 2026 Rent and Budget Guide

Updated August 2026. Rent figures reflect Apartment List data as of July 2026.

According to the Apartment List Rent Index, the median rent across all apartment sizes in Austin is $1,322 as of July 2026, with one-bedrooms at $1,171 and two-bedrooms at $1,425. Austin now rents for less than Dallas and Fort Worth, which is new. Rents here have risen just 1.5% since the pandemic, against 19.6% nationally, and only two large U.S. cities have moved less. Add the estimated electricity, water, and grocery costs to that one-bedroom, and an illustrative solo budget starts around $1,746 before transportation, internet, insurance, parking, or discretionary spending.

Rents have come down. Electricity is worth planning carefully, because Austin is one of the few big Texas cities where you can't shop for a cheaper supplier, and the rate climbs with how much you use. This guide works through each piece with Austin figures you can plan against.

Cost of Living at a Glance

Rent values are Apartment List July 2026 city-level estimates. Calculated rows derive from the cited bedroom medians.

How to use these numbers:

• Start with the rent for the unit size you're considering.
• Add the planning estimates that apply to you, then replace them with listing-specific charges and your expected usage.

Stacked together, the one-bedroom median plus the estimated electricity, water, and grocery costs come to about $1,746 a month for a solo renter.

That total is illustrative, and it leaves out transportation, internet, insurance, parking, and anything discretionary.

What Is the Median Rent in Austin in 2026?

The median one-bedroom rent in Austin is $1,171 as of July 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index. Two-bedrooms run $1,425, a difference of $254 a month, and the all-sizes median is $1,322.

Rents are down 3.80% year over year, though the most recent month ticked up 0.33%. Apartment List's national median fell 1.05% over the same period, a gap of 2.75 percentage points.

The monthly and annual figures cover different periods, and the twelve-month change is the steadier of the two. What these figures do not tell you is what any specific building is offering right now, so ask each one directly about concessions, fees, and the move-in total.

Austin Rents Are Close to Their Pre-Pandemic Level

Zoom out to the pandemic and the past year sits inside a longer flat stretch. Whatever national rent inflation did over that stretch, Austin mostly sat it out: up 1.5% across the whole period, against 19.6% for the national median (Apartment List, July 2026). Only Oakland and Portland have moved less among the large cities Apartment List tracks.

Its Texas neighbors held on to far more. Dallas is up 16.3% since the pandemic, Fort Worth 14.4%, Houston 7.6%, San Antonio 6.7%. Austin's 1.5% is the smallest increase among them.

That distinction matters if you're deciding when to move. Austin's rents today sit about where they were before the pandemic, up 1.5% across the whole period.

How Does Austin Rent Compare With Other Texas Cities?

All figures are Apartment List medians as of July 2026.

Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth are separated by $18, so treat the three as priced about the same. Over the past year Austin fell 3.80%, Dallas 1.54%, and Fort Worth 1.61%. The gap closed because Austin came down, not because the others went up.

San Antonio sits $200 below Austin, the widest gap in this table.

What Income Corresponds to Austin Rent at the 30% Benchmark?

Using Apartment List's July 2026 median one-bedroom rent of $1,171, the rent-only 30% calculation corresponds to about $46,840 in annual gross income.

The arithmetic: $1,171 x 12 / 0.30 = about $46,840 in annual gross income.

The 30% figure is the share of gross income the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers affordable. HUD's version includes utilities. The calculation above is rent-only, so treat it as a floor rather than a full housing budget.

This calculation uses gross income, while the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator asks for after-tax income and will produce a different estimate.

A $46,840 salary in Austin is not reduced by a state wage tax, unlike the same salary in a state that levies one. Use your after-tax income in the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator, then add rent and utilities separately when comparing your monthly budget.

Treat $46,840 as a planning benchmark, not a salary requirement or a screening rule.

How Do You Set a Rent Ceiling for a Specific Listing?

Start from what you earn. Multiply your annual gross income by 0.30, then divide by 12. That gives you the monthly rent the benchmark points to.

On a $50,000 salary that is about $1,250 a month, which is above Austin's $1,171 median one-bedroom. On $60,000 it is about $1,500. On $40,000 it is about $1,000, which lands below the median one-bedroom, so a solo unit at the median would run above the benchmark at that income.

The arithmetic also runs the other way if you are looking at a specific listing. Multiply the monthly rent by 12 and divide by 0.30 to see the income it implies: a $1,500 listing points to about $60,000, and a $950 listing to about $38,000.

Run it against the medians and you get the income each unit size lines up with. At the 30% planning benchmark, Austin's $1,171 one-bedroom median corresponds to about $46,840 in annual gross income. The $1,425 two-bedroom median corresponds to about $57,000 (Apartment List, July 2026). Split equally between two renters, the $712 share corresponds to about $28,480 each.

One Austin adjustment worth making. Electricity here gets more expensive per unit the more you use, so a larger place can cost more to cool on top of costing more to rent. Two listings close in rent can differ in what they cost to cool, so ask each building what its summer bills run. Check the Apartment List Rent Calculator for the ceiling, then leave headroom for the summer.

What Should You Budget Beyond Rent in Austin?

Electricity

Austin Energy is owned by the city, so Austin sits outside the retail-choice market that covers most of Texas. Renters in Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth can compare suppliers and switch, and San Antonio sits outside it too, served by the municipally owned CPS Energy. Here the only variable is how much you use.

The utility charges a fixed monthly customer charge plus a per-kWh price that steps up across four usage tiers, according to Austin Energy rates effective November 2025. The top tier costs more than double the lowest, and the full schedule is in the appendix.

Those tiers run year-round. Austin Energy publishes one schedule for all twelve months, so what summer changes is your usage, not the price of any tier. Heavier cooling moves more of your usage into the higher tiers, so the average price of the electricity you use rises even though no rate changed. Budget around your expected summer usage.

The advertised tier rates are also not the whole bill. Austin Energy adds published riders of about 6.5 cents per kWh, covering the power supply adjustment, community benefit, energy efficiency, and regulatory charges. Those riders apply at every tier, so the cheapest electricity here costs about 11.2 cents rather than the advertised 4.6. Budget from that number, not the one on the rate page.

Water and Wastewater

Austin Water bills a fixed monthly charge for a 5/8-inch residential meter, then tiered volume charges for water and a separate wastewater charge, according to Austin Water rates effective November 2025. Water volume pricing climbs steeply across tiers. The full rate schedule is in the appendix.

Austin averages your wastewater charge using three consecutive winter billing months, generally mid-November through mid-March, under its wastewater averaging method. Summer water you use outdoors does not inflate your sewer bill for the rest of the year, because sewer is priced off your winter usage instead. If you move in during the summer and have no winter history, you may be billed at a default average until you do.

Transit

CapMetro charges $1.25 for a local single ride, with a $41.25 monthly local fare cap, per CapMetro as of July 2026.

Coverage is the thing to check. CapMetro publishes its route map and service area, so confirm your likely commute is served before you count on the $41.25 cap replacing a car rather than supplementing one.

Groceries

The USDA Moderate-Cost Food Plan puts groceries for a single adult at about $440 per month.

How Do Solo and Shared Austin Budgets Compare?

Splitting a two-bedroom equally costs about $459 a month less per renter than paying for a one-bedroom on your own, before utilities and fees.

Rent values are Apartment List July 2026 city-level estimates. The shared figure assumes two renters splitting the median two-bedroom rent equally, with the half-share of $712.50 shown as $712. Income figures are approximate planning benchmarks at 30% of gross income, rent only.

Austin's two-bedroom median sits $254 above its one-bedroom median, so the saving per renter comes from dividing a larger rent between two people. Sharing is one way to lower the monthly number, and the solo row above shows what the alternative costs.

What Should You Confirm Before Paying an Application Fee?

• Whether the unit is on an inside-city Austin Energy account, which sets the customer charge
• What the previous tenant's summer electric bills ran
• Whether the unit has winter wastewater history, or will be billed at a default average
• Whether water is billed to you or included
• Whether parking is included, and what it costs if not
• Total move-in cost: first month, security deposit, and any administrative, pet, or amenity fees

One Austin-specific item worth checking carefully. The state property code sections covering residential security deposits set rules for how deposits are held, deducted, and returned, but those sections do not name a maximum amount. Ask the property for its total move-in amount in writing before paying.

How Do You Find Lower Rent in Austin?

Start with the neighborhood guides:

• Cheapest neighborhoods in Austin
• Best neighborhoods in Austin
• Safest neighborhoods in Austin

Then run your actual numbers. The Apartment List Rent Calculator sets a ceiling from your income and debts, and Rate My Rent grades a specific listing against similar nearby apartments on rent, square footage, and amenities. If a listing costs more than comparable units nearby, that grade gives you something specific to ask the building about.

Compare Austin With Your Current City

If you are moving in from somewhere else, the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator compares your current city against Austin. It asks for monthly household income after taxes, which matters if you are arriving from a state that taxes wages, since the absence of a state wage tax changes how much of your salary you keep.

Just carry the summer with you into that comparison. A Texas cooling season on a tiered rate you cannot shop is worth pricing in before you move from a milder climate.

When the math works, browse Austin apartments and start comparing real listings.

Appendix: Methodology and Data Sources

Rent figures come from the Apartment List Rent Estimate Methodology, a same-unit repeat-transaction analysis.

The income figures on this page are calculated from those medians against the 30% benchmark, not measured from income data.

The $1,746 monthly planning total is illustrative, combining the median one-bedroom rent with the electricity, water and wastewater, and grocery estimates listed in the At-a-Glance table above. It excludes transportation, internet, renter's insurance, parking, debt payments, and anything discretionary, and your own utility charges will vary with your usage.

Frequently Asked Questions About Austin Rent & Cost of Living

What Is the Average Rent in Austin? Apartment List reports a median rather than an average, because a median better represents a typical apartment and is less distorted by a handful of luxury units. The median all-sizes rent in Austin is $1,322 as of July 2026, with one-bedrooms at $1,171 and two-bedrooms at $1,425.

Is Rent Going Up or Down in Austin? Down. Austin rents fell 3.80% year over year as of July 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index, against a national median down 1.05%. Among the largest Texas cities it fell further than Dallas at 1.54% and Fort Worth at 1.61%. The most recent month rose 0.33%, so the fall is not perfectly smooth, but the annual direction is clear. These are citywide figures and do not establish what any individual building is asking or offering.

How Do Austin Rents Compare With Before the Pandemic? Austin rents are up 1.5% since the pandemic, compared with 19.6% for the national median over the same period (Apartment List, July 2026). Only two large U.S. cities, Oakland and Portland, have seen less movement. Other large Texas cities held onto far more of their increase, with Dallas up 16.3% and Fort Worth up 14.4%.

Why Can't You Choose Your Electricity Provider in Austin? Austin Energy is a municipally owned utility, so Austin sits outside the Texas retail-choice market that covers Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth. There is no supplier to shop and no switching decision to make. Austin Energy's rates are tiered, running from 4.640 cents per kWh on the first 300 kWh to 10.884 cents above 2,000 kWh, plus about 6.5 cents per kWh in published riders that apply across every tier.

What Salary Do You Need to Rent in Austin? Using Apartment List's July 2026 median one-bedroom rent of $1,171, the rent-only 30% calculation corresponds to about $46,840 in annual gross income. This is a planning benchmark, not a requirement. Texas has no state personal income tax, so your take-home tracks closer to gross here than it would in most states.

Is 30% of Income a Hard Limit for Rent? No. It is a widely used benchmark, and HUD treats housing costs above 30% of income as cost-burdened. Plenty of renters exceed it. According to Apartment List research, about 51.8% of U.S. renter households are cost-burdened and 26.1% are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half their income on housing, based on 2024 ACS data. Those are national figures, not Austin-specific.

Is Austin Still the Most Expensive City in Texas? No. At $1,322 all-sizes (Apartment List, July 2026), Austin rents below both Fort Worth ($1,340) and Dallas ($1,329). It remains above Houston ($1,264) and San Antonio ($1,122). Austin's 3.80% year-over-year decline outpaced Dallas at 1.54% and Fort Worth at 1.61%, which is what closed the gap.

How Much More Does a Two-Bedroom Cost Than a One-Bedroom in Austin? About $254 a month. The median one-bedroom is $1,171 and the median two-bedroom is $1,425 as of July 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index. That is the cost of renting the larger apartment, not the cost per person: two renters splitting that two-bedroom equally would pay about $712 each.