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The Lone Star State is a massive place that can accommodate all walks of life. But we've done the research to discover which cities are the most expensive to live in Texas for 2023.
Just where are these deep pockets of extreme wealth in Texas? By and large, the places you'll see on this list are in the southern region of the state, with many cities no farther than an hour outside of Houston or San Antonio. If you put a premium on live music, then you won't mind paying extra to live in Austin, the city with the most live music venues per capita in the country. If you're looking for the priciest suburb of Dallas, Addison is the spot for you. Need a beach nearby to fully enjoy your ritzy lifestyle? We recommend Galveston.
So how'd we come up with this list of pricey places? Generally speaking, places with the highest priced homes also have a higher cost of living. But the story doesn't end there. We also looked at how much money residents of each place earn to determine how their salaries stack up against the price of a home and rent. We found that you need to earn at least $16,914/year if you want to live in the upper eschelon of Texan society.
So grab a gold-plated dish of Texas BBQ and get ready to swap investment tips with Walmart's Alice Walton, because we're heading to the most expensive places in Texas.
Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in Texas for 2023:
What's the most expensive place to live in Texas? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Addison is the most expensive place to live in Texas.
So hopefully Elsa (the cheapest place to live in Texas) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.
And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about Texas and the most expensive cities in the country:
The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Texas For 2023
1. Addison
/10
Population: 16,405
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.8x (10th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 49.8x (53rd most expensive)
More on Addison: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Addison comes in at $74,012 and the median home value is $356,200 for 2023.
2. College Station
/10
Population: 116,276
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.4x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 48.1x (37th most expensive)
More on College Station: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in College Station comes in at $50,089 and the median home value is $269,100 for 2023.
3. Fredericksburg
/10
Population: 10,864
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.8x (3rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 51.5x (73rd most expensive)
More on Fredericksburg: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Fredericksburg comes in at $54,771 and the median home value is $317,600 for 2023.
4. Marble Falls
/10
Population: 6,892
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.6x (14th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 44.4x (14th most expensive)
More on Marble Falls: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Marble Falls comes in at $48,239 and the median home value is $221,200 for 2023.
5. Granbury
/10
Population: 10,453
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 5)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.3x (16th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 46.7x (23rd most expensive)
More on Granbury: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Granbury comes in at $52,956 and the median home value is $225,900 for 2023.
6. San Marcos
/10
Population: 64,812
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.7x (12th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 36.3x (3rd most expensive)
More on San Marcos: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in San Marcos comes in at $42,500 and the median home value is $201,200 for 2023.
7. Prairie View
/10
Population: 6,464
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 5)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 10.6x (most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 18.0x (most expensive)
More on Prairie View: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Prairie View comes in at $16,914 and the median home value is $179,700 for 2023.
8. Huntsville
/10
Population: 45,446
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.1x (7th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 39.5x (6th most expensive)
More on Huntsville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Huntsville comes in at $35,615 and the median home value is $182,700 for 2023.
9. Fairview
/10
Population: 10,062
Rank Last Year: 22 (Up 11)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.5x (15th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 55.3x (122nd most expensive)
More on Fairview: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Fairview comes in at $92,326 and the median home value is $412,800 for 2023.
10. Austin
/10
Population: 944,658
Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.8x (9th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 55.8x (126th most expensive)
More on Austin: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Austin comes in at $78,965 and the median home value is $381,400 for 2023.
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Lone Star State For 2023
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:
- How much do money do I make?
- How much do I have spend to live there?
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Texas to figure out which is the most expensive.
What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 346 places in Texas that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Texas according to the data is Addison. You can download the data here.
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Texas For 2023
Well there you have it, the places in Texas that have the highest cost of living, with Addison ranking as the most expensive city in the Lone Star State.
Here's a look at the most affordable cities in Texas according to the data:
- Elsa
- Muleshoe
- Crystal City
For more Texas reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Texas
- Cheapest Places To Live In Texas
- Most Dangerous Places In Texas
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Texas
- Safest Places In Texas
- Worst Places To Live In Texas
Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In Texas
| Rank | City | ExpensiveScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addison | 31.0 |
| 2 | College Station | 36.33 |
| 3 | Fredericksburg | 39.33 |
| 4 | Marble Falls | 43.0 |
| 5 | Granbury | 44.33 |
| 6 | San Marcos | 47.33 |
| 7 | Prairie View | 50.67 |
| 8 | Huntsville | 53.0 |
| 9 | Fairview | 53.0 |
| 10 | Austin | 54.0 |
| 11 | Dallas | 56.0 |
| 12 | Galveston | 58.67 |
| 13 | Anna | 64.67 |
| 14 | Webster | 68.67 |
| 15 | Richardson | 69.33 |
| 16 | Houston | 71.67 |
| 17 | Bee Cave | 72.0 |
| 18 | Denton | 74.33 |
| 19 | Nacogdoches | 77.0 |
| 20 | Euless | 77.0 |
| 21 | Lewisville | 77.0 |
| 22 | Boerne | 80.67 |
| 23 | Farmers Branch | 82.33 |
| 24 | Lakeway | 85.0 |
| 25 | Waco | 86.83 |
| 26 | Duncanville | 90.0 |
| 27 | Georgetown | 90.0 |
| 28 | Bryan | 91.0 |
| 29 | Buda | 95.0 |
| 30 | Lake Dallas | 95.0 |
| 31 | Belton | 96.0 |
| 32 | Irving | 96.0 |
| 33 | Grapevine | 96.67 |
| 34 | Kerrville | 97.17 |
| 35 | Joshua | 97.33 |
| 36 | Crockett | 97.67 |
| 37 | Helotes | 99.33 |
| 38 | Rockport | 101.0 |
| 39 | Garland | 102.0 |
| 40 | Arlington | 103.0 |
| 41 | San Antonio | 103.0 |
| 42 | Rosenberg | 103.17 |
| 43 | Hurst | 104.0 |
| 44 | Plano | 104.67 |
| 45 | Leon Valley | 105.33 |
| 46 | Keene | 106.17 |
| 47 | Tomball | 107.33 |
| 48 | West University Place | 107.67 |
| 49 | New Braunfels | 107.67 |
| 50 | Conroe | 107.67 |
| 51 | Bastrop | 108.33 |
| 52 | Stephenville | 109.0 |
| 53 | Round Rock | 110.33 |
| 54 | Richmond | 110.33 |
| 55 | Haltom City | 110.67 |
| 56 | Cedar Hill | 111.0 |
| 57 | Fort Worth | 113.33 |
| 58 | Highland Park | 115.0 |
| 59 | University Park | 115.0 |
| 60 | Missouri City | 115.67 |
| 61 | Carrollton | 115.67 |
| 62 | Bedford | 116.0 |
| 63 | Port Isabel | 116.33 |
| 64 | Kyle | 116.67 |
| 65 | Lancaster | 117.0 |
| 66 | Lucas | 118.0 |
| 67 | Brenham | 118.33 |
| 68 | Providence Village | 118.33 |
| 69 | Colleyville | 121.33 |
| 70 | Bellaire | 121.33 |
| 71 | Wylie | 121.67 |
| 72 | Fate | 122.0 |
| 73 | Mckinney | 122.33 |
| 74 | Seagoville | 122.67 |
| 75 | Alpine | 122.67 |
| 76 | Seguin | 123.0 |
| 77 | Sherman | 123.0 |
| 78 | Hempstead | 123.33 |
| 79 | Jersey Village | 123.67 |
| 80 | Floresville | 124.33 |
| 81 | Little Elm | 124.67 |
| 82 | Alamo Heights | 125.0 |
| 83 | Los Fresnos | 125.5 |
| 84 | White Settlement | 125.83 |
| 85 | Princeton | 127.33 |
| 86 | Weatherford | 128.0 |
| 87 | The Colony | 128.33 |
| 88 | Alvin | 128.33 |
| 89 | North Richland Hills | 128.33 |
| 90 | Balch Springs | 128.67 |
| 91 | Red Oak | 129.67 |
| 92 | Hutto | 130.0 |
| 93 | Waxahachie | 132.0 |
| 94 | Frisco | 132.0 |
| 95 | Lubbock | 132.0 |
| 96 | Lacy-Lakeview | 132.67 |
| 97 | Universal City | 132.67 |
| 98 | Prosper | 133.67 |
| 99 | Mesquite | 134.0 |
| 100 | Live Oak | 134.0 |
