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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
This is one of the closest races in our database: the top 5 cities are separated by just 3 points on the cost index. Beaumont, Amarillo, Laredo, Killeen, Mcallen are all within striking distance. At this margin, secondary factors — taxes, rent trends, category-specific costs — become the tiebreakers…
#1 Ranked: Beaumont — cost index 88, rent $1,275/mo, income $57,530
Top 5 separated by only 3 points
38 of 40 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 112
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
This is one of the closest races in our database: the top 5 cities are separated by just 3 points on the cost index. Beaumont, Amarillo, Laredo, Killeen, Mcallen are all within striking distance. At this margin, secondary factors — taxes, rent trends, category-specific costs — become the tiebreakers. Here's the full breakdown.
Here's Beaumont by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 88. Rent: $1,275/month. Income: $57,530/year. Home price: $165,122. Population: 112,193. The strongest category is Housing at 70; the most expensive is Healthcare at 90. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $7,440 per year vs. the national median. That adds up much faster than people realize.
It checks most boxes — but the healthcare costs are the asterisk. In Beaumont, the healthcare index sits at 90 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
In plain English: If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
112,193 residents · Texas
Look, a closer look at Beaumont: the cost index of 88 breaks down to a Housing index of 70 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 90 (weakest). Median rent is $1,275/month — 33% below the national median — while household income sits at $57,530, meaning locals spend about 27% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
202,408 residents · Texas
Here's Amarillo by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 89. Rent: $1,245/month. Income: $62,469/year. Home price: $202,835. Population: 202,408. The strongest category is Housing at 73; the most expensive is Healthcare at 92. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $7,800 per year vs. the national median. That's an underrated factor in the decision.
257,602 residents · Texas
Dive into Laredo's numbers: cost index 91 — we had to double-check this one — (21 points below national average), rent $1,327/month, income $63,264, and a home price of $217,648. And on balance, the city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 78, while Healthcare runs 94. With 257,602 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
159,643 residents · Texas
Killeen earns its position at #4 through a combination that's hard to replicate. That alone makes it worth considering. The 90 cost index sits 22 points below the national baseline, and the $58,339 median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $218,425 — $248,945 below the national median — a genuine ownership opportunity. On the cost side, Housing leads the way at 76, while Healthcare trails at 93.
146,593 residents · Texas
The #5 spot goes to Mcallen, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,272/month — worth pausing on — — saving renters $7,476 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 77, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 93. A 25% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
Cities are ranked by their food & groceries cost sub-index within Texas. Each sub-index is derived from the overall cost of living with regional adjustment factors. 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.
Beaumont ranks #1 in Texas for this analysis with a cost index of 88 and median income of $57,530.
Beaumont, TX has the lowest food & groceries index at 86, compared to the national average of 100.
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.
Beaumont (ranked #1) has a cost index of 88 and rent of $1,275/mo, while Frisco (ranked #40) has a cost index of 118 and rent of $1,751/mo — a 30-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 Beaumont is $1,275/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $620 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Beaumont is $165,122, which is 2.9× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. 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.