What is the cost of living in Odessa?

Odessa has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 93.9, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 89.7, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,595/month.

What is the median salary in Odessa?

The median salary in Odessa is $62,946 annually (mean: $67,993). Top occupations include Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, Fast Food and Counter Workers, General and Operations Managers.

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

What are the schools like in Odessa?

The state of TX has 9,061 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.4:1. About 69.5% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 11.1% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Odessa?

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

Is Odessa a good place to relocate?

Odessa has a Life Score of 44.6/100 (F), 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 Odessa sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Odessa ranks #289 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

Odessa, TX

LiveAbility 44.3/100 places Odessa #289 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

93.9
Cost index (US=100): $1,595
2BR rent / mo: $62,946
Median salary: 44.3
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Odessa ranks #289 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (44.3/100), with its strongest marks in air quality and climate.

#289
of 387 US metros · Below median: 31,290,831
metro-area population: 395
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 9,061
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: low hazard (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), Odessa ranks #289 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 93.9 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,595/mo, median salary $62,946; LiveAbility Score 44.3/100, strongest in air quality and climate.

Signature: LiveAbility 44.3/100 places Odessa #289 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Purchasing power sits mid-band: BEA RPP 93.9 between corpus terciles 91.5 and 97.0. Median 2BR rent $1,595/mo.

LiveAbility 44.3/100 puts Odessa in the bottom third (#289 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Odessa area is 73,580.

Odessa 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)

44 Top 75% higher than 25% 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

Odessa housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Odessa MSA; housing RPP 89.7 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,595/mo.

Studio

$1,245

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,269

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,595

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,912

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,213

/month

Odessa wages and employment

Odessa posts 73,580 total employment with median salary $62,946.

Median Salary

$62,946

Mean Salary

$67,993

Total Employment

73,580

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	$58,370
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$28,390
General and Operations Managers	$104,100
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas	$45,650
Retail Salespersons	$30,320

Schools & Education

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

Schools

9,061

Enrollment

5,491,723

Student:Teacher

14.4:1

Title I %

69.5%

Childcare Costs

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

Infant (Center)

$7,566

per year

Toddler (Center)

$7,109

per year

Preschool (Center)

$6,926

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Odessa's composite Life Score is 44.6/100 (F), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

48/100

Average

Wages

32/100

Weak

Rent

25/100

Weak

Crime

31/100

Weak

Schools

41/100

Below average

Childcare

74/100

Strong

Environment

88/100

Elite

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Odessa ranks #289 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 44.3/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Air quality (89/100)

Air quality

89
Climate

89
Schools

59
Cost of living

48
Job market

32
Safety

31
Housing

25
Low hazard

2

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

Compare Odessa to

Manhattan Mankato Mansfield McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Medford Memphis

Metros near Odessa on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Odessa 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

† No air quality reading on file for this metro, so its score is built from fewer than all 8 dimensions: the missing dimension is omitted and the remaining weights renormalized. It is not directly comparable with a full 8-dimension score.

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

Odessa cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Odessa 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 →

Weighing a move to Odessa?

Odessa in numbers: a $62,946 median salary, a 93.9 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #289 of 387.

Turn Odessa's pay and cost figures into a number for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Odessa head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Odessa
Closest related metro in this corpus: Abilene. See how it stacks up. Abilene profile
Cost and LiveAbility do not always agree, and the guide explains how to weigh the trade-off between them. Cost vs quality guide

Read the cost, salary and score figures as federal-data percentiles, not as advice to move.