Texas Self-Sufficient Wage

Texas Government Code Sec. 2308A.012 defines a self-sufficient wage as the minimum employment earnings necessary to meet a family's basic needs while maintaining self-sufficiency; and instructs the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative to establish this wage for each county.

After thoroughly evaluating data analysis requirements, the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative selected the University of Washington's Self Sufficiency Standard to determine a family self-sufficient wage for each Texas county. The Self Sufficiency Standard measures how much income is needed to meet basic living needs without additional public or private support. The tool calculates the most recent local or regional costs of each basic need, including housing, child care, food, health care, transportation, taxes, and miscellaneous costs.

The Family Self-Sufficient Wage adopted for each county represents the average Texas family of 1.78 adults and 1.68 children and is based on a common standard that reflects the regionally adjusted minimum employment earnings necessary to meet a family's basic needs while maintaining self-sufficiency.

The Statewide Self-Sufficient Wage is an average of the county wages, weighted by the most recently-released Census population estimate.

For more comprehensive information, the University of Washington tool offers a complete dataset that takes into account family composition, ages of children, and geographic differences in costs. You can use the University of Washington's tool to calculate for specific variables as needed. Find it here: https://selfsufficiencystandard.org/texas/.

Download the 2024 Texas Self-Sufficient Wage (Excel)

University of Washington Self-Sufficiency Standard - The Self-Sufficiency Standard determines the amount of income required for working families to meet basic needs at a minimally adequate level, taking into account family composition, ages of children, and geographic differences in costs. It covers all counties in Texas and provides a self-sufficiency standard for over 700 family types.

Self-Sufficient Wage - As defined by Texas Government Code Sec. 2308A.012, the minimum level of employment earnings necessary to meet a family's basic needs while maintaining self-sufficiency.

Texas Average Self-Sufficiency Standard - A county-level measure of the minimum income required to meet basic needs without
assistance, based on a typical Texas household of 1.78 adults and 1.68 children. The measure accounts for essential costs such as food,
housing, child care, transportation, and health care.

Individual Hourly Self-Sufficient Wage - The wage an individual must earn per hour to meet their family's basic needs,
calculated by dividing the Family Monthly Self-Sufficient Wage by 352 hours per month.

Family Monthly Self-Sufficient Wage - The total monthly income required for a family to meet basic needs without assistance,
calculated based on two adults working 176 hours each per month.

Family Annual Self-Sufficient Wage - The total yearly income required for a family to be self-sufficient, determined by multiplying
the Family Monthly Self-Sufficient Wage by 12 months.

Statewide Self-Sufficient Wage - The population-weighted average of county-level Self-Sufficient Wages in Texas, calculated using
the U.S. Census Bureau's population estimates.

FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) Code - Numeric codes assigned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
to facilitate uniform identification and classification of geographic entities such as states and counties.