What it actually costs to live in Amarillo right now.

The numbers

Apartment List figures are medians on new leases; it did not publish a 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom split for Amarillo this month. RentCafe figures are averages for large managed buildings. Unusually, RentCafe’s Amarillo average runs well below Apartment List’s median, so treat both as a range rather than a precise price.

Amarillo straddles Potter and Randall counties and several school districts (Amarillo ISD, Canyon ISD and others), so your tax stack depends on the address. We could not find a current rate list from the Potter-Randall Appraisal District, and the 2026 city, county and Amarillo ISD rates were not yet published in sources we could open. The rows above mix tax years, so we have not added them into a single total. The 2025 city rate is the rounded figure reported by local news.

Neighborhood rents

Average rent across all unit sizes in large managed buildings, from RentCafe (as of Sep 30, 2026). The citywide average is $1,023, up 3.89% in a year.

What makes Amarillo different

Off the Texas grid

Amarillo is on the Southwest Power Pool, an interstate grid, not ERCOT (Amarillo Globe-News). Most of the Panhandle is in the same position (NewsChannel 10). Xcel Energy, through its Southwestern Public Service subsidiary, generates and delivers the power and is not subject to retail choice. That means no Power to Choose, no teaser-rate plans and no contract renewals to watch. It also means rates change through filings at the Public Utility Commission. In 2026 those included a proposed one-time fuel credit and a pending fuel factor change, both shown above. Xcel’s average residential price in Texas was 13.9¢/kWh in 2025, below the 15.4¢ Texas average on the same EIA basis.

Rents are catching up

Amarillo had the fastest rent growth of the smaller Texas cities we track: +7.3% in a year. For-sale inventory is also tight. At 2.8 months, it is about half of what Waco (5.4) or College Station-Bryan (5.0) had in the same quarter, and homes sold in 54 days on average. Budget for less negotiating room than in Waco or College Station.

Water bills likely to rise

The city has put the cost of a new wastewater plant and other water projects at about $1.8 billion. In May 2026 staff floated a preliminary 8.37% rate adjustment, with a rate plan to follow. We have not seen an adopted increase, so the table shows the rates in effect since Oct 1, 2025.

Out-of-date numbers you’ll still find online

Same everywhere in Texas

Amarillo’s electricity works differently from most of Texas, but the rest is statewide. No state income tax, the 8.25% sales tax ceiling, the $140,000 homestead exemption, vehicle fees and insurance averages are on our Texas taxes and pay page and the Texas overview. For ERCOT versus regulated utilities, see Texas electricity; for exemptions and protests, see Texas property taxes. To compare Amarillo with Lubbock and the big metros, use the city comparison.

Coming soon: the 2026 city, county and school district tax rates, the outcome of Xcel’s pending fuel filing, any water rate decision, and 2025 Census income figures, which the Census Bureau released on Oct 29, 2026.

How we check

Every figure links to its source and shows the date it applies to. We prefer the agency that produces the number, such as the City of Amarillo, Census and BEA, and we label anything from a marketplace, aggregator or news report. Where tax years don’t match, we say so instead of adding them up. Read the full methodology.