Optometrists Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $130K, rent takes 22.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,852/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new optometrists typically earn — is $56K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,379/month. At HUD’s $1,852/month FMR, rent would take 55% 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 — $130K locally vs. $137K nationally, a 4% difference.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos pays $130K median vs. the U.S. average of $137K — that’s -4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 98.07), the purchasing-power equivalent is $133K — below the national median.

The median is $130,460 a year, that works out to about $63 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $56,310, and experienced optometrists can clear $182,410. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $8,327/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,852/month, which eats 22.2% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos has a Regional Price Parity of 98.07 (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 optometrists salary is worth about $133,027 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.