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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Real talk: Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 40 cities in Texas: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. San Antonio — index 93, zero state tax — leads.
#1 Ranked: San Antonio — cost index 93, rent $1,361/mo, income $62,917
Veteran scoring: cost index 93, no state income tax, healthcare index 96 — preserving earned benefits
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Real talk: Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 40 cities in Texas: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. San Antonio — index 93, zero state tax — leads.
The #1 spot goes to San Antonio, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,361/month — saving renters $6,408 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 83, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 96. A 26% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone (your mileage may vary — literally).
Veterans have unique financial considerations: pension, VA disability, GI Bill benefits all interact with local costs and taxes. Our model weights cost of living (20pts), state tax burden (20pts), and healthcare costs (15pts) for supplemental care beyond VA. San Antonio scores highest with a 93 cost index and no state income tax.
Now, the part that complicates the narrative: Across Texas, the average cost of living index is 99 — 13 points below the national median. And depending on your situation, known for no income tax, massive metros, and wide-open affordability, the state offers 40 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,536/month. That's $359 less than the national average of $1,895. The practical impact: more room for childcare, savings, or just breathing room.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
1,495,295 residents · Texas
The #1 spot goes to San Antonio, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,361/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — — saving renters $6,408 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 83, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 96. A 26% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
678,958 residents · Texas
Dive into El Paso's numbers: cost index 94 (18 points below national average), rent $1,441/month, income $58,734, and a home price of $231,886. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 84, while Healthcare runs 96. As a major city with 678,958 residents, amenities and job markets are robust (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
316,595 residents · Texas
Here's Corpus Christi by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 93. Rent: $1,433/month — worth pausing on — . Income: $66,325/year. Home price: $220,110. Population: 316,595. The strongest category is Housing at 82; the most expensive is Healthcare at 96. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $5,544 per year vs. the national median. This is where the math gets real for actual people.
266,878 residents · Texas
The #4 spot goes to Lubbock, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,388/month — saving renters $6,084 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 79, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 94. A 28% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
257,602 residents · Texas
Here's Laredo by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). And roughly speaking, cost index: 91. Rent: $1,327/month. Income: $63,264/year. Home price: $217,648. Population: 257,602. The strongest category is Housing at 78; the most expensive is Healthcare at 94. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $6,816 per year vs. the national median. The practical impact: more room for childcare, savings, or just breathing room.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to military veterans. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
San Antonio ranks #1 in Texas for this analysis with a cost index of 93 and median income of $62,917.
San Antonio scores highest for military veterans due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,361/mo, and competitive median income of $62,917.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
San Antonio (ranked #1) has a cost index of 93 and rent of $1,361/mo, while Sugar Land (ranked #40) has a cost index of 112 and rent of $1,990/mo — a 19-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in San Antonio is $1,361/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $534 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in San Antonio is $247,132, which is 3.9× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Texas has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.19%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.6%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.