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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
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
Top 5 separated by only 2 points
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
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.
Here's San Antonio by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 93. Rent: $1,361/month. Income: $62,917/year. Home price: $247,132. Population: 1,495,295. The strongest category is Housing at 83; the most expensive is Healthcare at 96. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $6,408 per year vs. the national median. In a market where everything is going up, this stands still — in a good way (that's pre-tax, of course).
Bottom line: San Antonio leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
1,495,295 residents · Texas
Why San Antonio ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 93 on the cost index, residents save roughly 19% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,361/month while the median household pulls in $62,917/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 83, though Healthcare (96) lags behind. Home prices average $247,132 — $220,238 below the national median.
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. And broadly, 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.
316,595 residents · Texas
The #3 spot goes to Corpus Christi, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,433/month — saving renters $5,544 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 82, 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.
266,878 residents · Texas
What does daily life actually cost in Lubbock? Start with the 28% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 79) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 94) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $60,487 and homes at $207,080 round out a profile that ranks #4 for clear reasons.
257,602 residents · Texas
In plain English: a closer look at Laredo: the cost index of 91 breaks down to a Housing index of 78 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 94 (weakest). Median rent is $1,327/month — 30% below the national median — while household income sits at $63,264, meaning locals spend about 25% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to military veterans. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Texas by this personalized metric. 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.