What is the cost of living in Laredo?

Laredo has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 87.0, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 59.7, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,161/month.

What is the median salary in Laredo?

The median salary in Laredo is $53,494 annually (mean: $56,797). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

The violent crime rate in the Laredo area is 395 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 2058 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Laredo?

The state of TX has 9,061 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.7:1. Charter schools make up 11.4% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Laredo?

Infant center-based childcare in the Laredo area averages $7,566 per year. Preschool averages $6,926/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Laredo a good place to relocate?

Laredo has a Life Score of 54.4/100 (D), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does Laredo sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Laredo ranks #205 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Laredo, TX

BEA RPP 87.0 ranks #33 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

87.0
Cost index (US=100): $1,161
2BR rent / mo: $53,494
Median salary: 50.8
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Laredo ranks #205 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (50.8/100), with its strongest marks in climate and cost of living.

#205
of 387 US metros · Near median: 31,290,831
metro-area population: 395
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 9,061
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: job market (2/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Laredo ranks #205 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 87.0 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,161/mo, median salary $53,494; LiveAbility Score 50.8/100, strongest in climate and cost of living.

Signature: BEA RPP 87.0 ranks #33 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 87.0 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,161/mo.

LiveAbility 50.8/100 keeps Laredo in the middle third (#205 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Laredo area is 102,920.

Laredo vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

51 Top 53% higher than 47% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Laredo housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Laredo MSA; housing RPP 59.7 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,161/mo.

Studio

$956

/month

1 Bedroom

$962

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,161

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,499

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,551

/month

Laredo wages and employment

Laredo posts 102,920 total employment with median salary $53,494 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$53,494

Mean Salary

$56,797

Total Employment

102,920

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$23,510
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	$49,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$23,030
Retail Salespersons	$27,530
General and Operations Managers	$78,640

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Laredo area from NCES.

Schools

9,061

Enrollment

5,491,723

Student:Teacher

14.7:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Laredo area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$7,566

per year

Toddler (Center)

$7,109

per year

Preschool (Center)

$6,926

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Laredo's composite Life Score is 54.4/100 (D), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

92/100

Elite

Wages

2/100

Bottom decile

Rent

72/100

Strong

Crime

33/100

Weak

Schools

39/100

Below average

Childcare

75/100

Strong

Environment

87/100

Elite

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Laredo ranks #205 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 50.8/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Climate (95/100)

Climate

95
Cost of living

92
Housing

72
Schools

61
Air quality

41
Safety

33
Low hazard

3
Job market

2

What this shows Laredo's strongest dimensions are climate and cost of living; its weakest among scored dims is job market at 2/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Laredo to

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Paducah Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Panama City-Panama City Beach Parkersburg-Vienna Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent

Metros near Laredo on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Laredo on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Laredo cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Laredo wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Laredo?

Laredo runs a $53,494 median salary at a 87.0 cost index, ranking #205 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Laredo's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Laredo head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Laredo
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.