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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 2021.
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 $24,363/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 2021:
What's the most expensive place to live in Texas? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Fair Oaks Ranch is the most expensive place to live in Texas.
So hopefully Progreso (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 2021
/10
Population: 9,944
Rank Last Year: 40 (Up 39)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.5x (30th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 43.6x (17th most expensive)
More on Fair Oaks Ranch: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Fair Oaks Ranch comes in at $128,398 and the median home value is $455,400 for 2021.
/10
Population: 113,686
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.3x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 46.6x (29th most expensive)
More on College Station: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in College Station comes in at $45,820 and the median home value is $241,600 for 2021.
/10
Population: 6,678
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 6.9x (2nd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 23.5x (most expensive)
More on Prairie View: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Prairie View comes in at $24,363 and the median home value is $168,200 for 2021.
/10
Population: 11,245
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.5x (5th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 52.4x (84th most expensive)
More on Fredericksburg: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Fredericksburg comes in at $50,497 and the median home value is $275,500 for 2021.
/10
Population: 63,220
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.2x (13th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 37.9x (6th most expensive)
More on San Marcos: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in San Marcos comes in at $40,370 and the median home value is $171,500 for 2021.
/10
Population: 41,592
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.7x (7th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 38.8x (8th most expensive)
More on Huntsville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Huntsville comes in at $34,890 and the median home value is $165,000 for 2021.
/10
Population: 9,939
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.7x (19th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 48.7x (40th most expensive)
More on Granbury: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Granbury comes in at $49,793 and the median home value is $185,900 for 2021.
/10
Population: 15,302
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 4)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.5x (9th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 55.4x (124th most expensive)
More on Addison: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Addison comes in at $74,986 and the median home value is $335,300 for 2021.
/10
Population: 950,807
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.7x (8th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 55.9x (134th most expensive)
More on Austin: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Austin comes in at $71,576 and the median home value is $337,400 for 2021.
/10
Population: 11,222
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 5)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.4x (34th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 49.1x (43rd most expensive)
More on Webster: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Webster comes in at $55,497 and the median home value is $186,400 for 2021.
How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Lone Star State For 2021
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 2015-2019 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 352 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 Fair Oaks Ranch. You can download the data here.
Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Texas For 2021
Well there you have it, the places in Texas that have the highest cost of living, with Fair Oaks Ranch 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:
- Progreso
- Muleshoe
- Pecos
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 | Fair Oaks Ranch | 20.33 |
| 2 | College Station | 31.0 |
| 3 | Prairie View | 43.0 |
| 4 | Fredericksburg | 43.33 |
| 5 | San Marcos | 44.33 |
| 6 | Huntsville | 50.0 |
| 7 | Granbury | 52.67 |
| 8 | Addison | 53.0 |
| 9 | Austin | 55.67 |
| 10 | Webster | 58.33 |
| 11 | Galveston | 59.33 |
| 12 | Dallas | 59.67 |
| 13 | Boerne | 63.67 |
| 14 | Nacogdoches | 68.0 |
| 15 | Houston | 70.67 |
| 16 | Lewisville | 72.0 |
| 17 | Denton | 73.33 |
| 18 | Marble Falls | 73.67 |
| 19 | Tomball | 74.83 |
| 20 | Richmond | 80.0 |
| 21 | Brenham | 81.0 |
| 22 | Fairview | 84.33 |
| 23 | Bee Cave | 84.33 |
| 24 | Stafford | 84.67 |
| 25 | Lago Vista | 84.67 |
| 26 | Kerrville | 85.0 |
| 27 | Rosenberg | 87.67 |
| 28 | Bryan | 87.67 |
| 29 | Georgetown | 88.67 |
| 30 | Princeton | 89.33 |
| 31 | Waco | 93.33 |
| 32 | Conroe | 93.67 |
| 33 | Bastrop | 96.0 |
| 34 | Anthony | 98.0 |
| 35 | Manor | 98.67 |
| 36 | Humble | 98.67 |
| 37 | Port Isabel | 98.67 |
| 38 | Hempstead | 99.67 |
| 39 | Euless | 100.0 |
| 40 | Selma | 100.0 |
| 41 | Rockport | 100.67 |
| 42 | Stephenville | 101.67 |
| 43 | Richardson | 102.67 |
| 44 | Melissa | 103.0 |
| 45 | Helotes | 103.0 |
| 46 | Joshua | 104.67 |
| 47 | Murphy | 105.0 |
| 48 | Willow Park | 105.0 |
| 49 | Farmers Branch | 108.0 |
| 50 | New Braunfels | 109.0 |
| 51 | Grapevine | 109.67 |
| 52 | Jersey Village | 110.33 |
| 53 | Hutto | 110.33 |
| 54 | Duncanville | 110.5 |
| 55 | Lakeway | 113.33 |
| 56 | Plano | 114.67 |
| 57 | Hurst | 114.67 |
| 58 | Highland Park | 115.0 |
| 59 | Mckinney | 115.67 |
| 60 | Palmview | 117.0 |
| 61 | San Antonio | 117.0 |
| 62 | Taylor | 117.83 |
| 63 | University Park | 118.33 |
| 64 | Gilmer | 118.67 |
| 65 | Irving | 119.0 |
| 66 | Alamo Heights | 119.67 |
| 67 | Tyler | 120.0 |
| 68 | Lubbock | 120.33 |
| 69 | Kyle | 120.67 |
| 70 | Hidalgo | 121.0 |
| 71 | West University Place | 121.33 |
| 72 | Arlington | 122.0 |
| 73 | Lucas | 122.33 |
| 74 | Bellaire | 122.33 |
| 75 | Carrollton | 123.67 |
| 76 | Gladewater | 123.83 |
| 77 | Bedford | 124.67 |
| 78 | Round Rock | 124.67 |
| 79 | Colleyville | 125.0 |
| 80 | Fate | 125.0 |
| 81 | Garland | 125.33 |
| 82 | Roanoke | 126.0 |
| 83 | Little Elm | 126.33 |
| 84 | Terrell Hills | 128.33 |
| 85 | North Richland Hills | 128.67 |
| 86 | Heath | 128.67 |
| 87 | Royse City | 129.83 |
| 88 | Buda | 130.0 |
| 89 | Granite Shoals | 130.0 |
| 90 | Missouri City | 130.67 |
| 91 | Keene | 132.67 |
| 92 | Glenn Heights | 133.0 |
| 93 | Seguin | 133.0 |
| 94 | Coppell | 133.67 |
| 95 | Dayton | 134.67 |
| 96 | Lake Dallas | 135.33 |
| 97 | Frisco | 135.33 |
| 98 | Crockett | 135.67 |
| 99 | Prosper | 136.33 |
| 100 | Aransas Pass | 136.5 |
