Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $146K, rent takes 15.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,426/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates typically earn — is $46K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,783/month. At HUD’s $1,426/month FMR, rent would take 51% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $146K locally vs. $154K nationally, a 5% difference.

San Antonio-New Braunfels pays $146K median vs. the U.S. average of $154K — that’s -5%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 94.72), the purchasing-power equivalent is $154K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $145,860 a year, that works out to about $70 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $46,390, and experienced judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates can clear $180,300. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $9,204/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,426/month, which eats 15.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

San Antonio-New Braunfels has a Regional Price Parity of 94.72 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates salary is worth about $153,991 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.