COST OF LIVING
Compare it with where you live now.
Wherever in the U.S. you live now, see monthly costs side by side for a typical home in each place.
Go to the calculator ↓01 — THE ECONOMICS OF LIVING HERE
What’s cheaper,what costs more.
You pay less0% state income taxTexas has no state income tax. Coming from California, the higher your income, the bigger the difference.
You pay moreProperty tax & insuranceProperty tax runs roughly 1.7–2.3% of value a year, and home insurance is above the national average. Budget for both.
What you getNewer, bigger homesThe same budget buys far more new construction than in California or Seattle. Many suburbs are priced like Houston or Dallas.
Right nowA buyer-friendly marketThe metro median is down 6.4% year over year and homes sit longer, so there’s room to negotiate. Rates are 7.03% (Sep 24).
02 — COST OF LIVING CALCULATOR
Enter your income and city.We’ll do the math.
Where you live nowLos AngelesAustin areaCedar Park
Home value (typical)$930,000$462,000
Mortgage P&I (mo)$4,965$2,466
Property tax (mo)$891$542
Home insurance (mo)$152$410
State income tax (mo)$465$0
Monthly total$6,472$3,418
About $3,055 less per monthYou drop state income tax but pick up higher property tax and insurance. Look at the total.
Assumes each city’s typical home value (Zillow ZHVI, Aug 2026), 20% down, 30-year fixed at 7.03% (Freddie Mac, Sep 24, 2026), and the Texas homestead exemption.Austin-area property tax uses the combined county rate; your address may differ, and newer MUD communities can run 0.2–0.45 points higher. Other cities use the county’s average effective rate (California: 1.15% for new buyers). Insurance is the state average for $400K of dwelling coverage. State income tax is a rough married-filing-jointly estimate and leaves out city or county income taxes.Start my search →Los Angeles
Cedar Park
03 — SAME LIFE, WHAT SALARY?
Your life as it is now.What would it take in Austin?
Using the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price index, we compare what the same goods and services cost. Based on the income and cities you entered above.
Change city or income ↑The life you have on $150,000 a year in Los Angelescosts, in the Austin metro,about $130,000 a year13% lessAnd you stop paying California state income tax (about $5,600 a year).
Los AngelesCedar ParkDifference
Typical rent (mo)$2,778$1,72738% lower
Overall prices113.698.114% lower
Housing170.4120.429% lower
Utilities (power, gas, water)158.682.048% lower
Goods (groceries, gas, clothing…)106.693.812% lower
Services (dining, medical, education…)104.496.28% lower
Price index: U.S. average = 100 · Price area: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAThe numbers are the start.Let’s talk about the rest.
Start my search →Sources: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) and Observed Rent Index (ZORI), Aug 2026; Ballard Property Tax Protest (Texas county combined rates); U.S. Census ACS 2020–24 (county effective property tax rates); NerdWallet (2026 insurance by state); Tax Foundation (2026 state income tax); Freddie Mac PMMS (Sep 24, 2026); Unlock MLS (Aug 2026). Bastrop rate is an estimate.