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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
For retirees on a fixed income, every percentage point matters. Our retiree-weighted model scored 40 cities in Texas and San Antonio (index 93, healthcare 96, zero state income tax) takes the top spot.
For retirees on a fixed income, every percentage point matters. Our retiree-weighted model scored 40 cities in Texas and San Antonio (index 93, healthcare 96, zero state income tax) takes the top spot.
Retirement affordability is about protecting fixed income. Our model weights healthcare costs at 25 points (medical bills are the #1 financial risk in retirement), cost index at 25 points, and state tax burden at 15 points (taxes directly reduce pension and Social Security income). San Antonio leads with low healthcare costs, no state income tax, and a cost index of 93. El Paso offers competitive healthcare and cost metrics (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
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.
It checks most boxes — but the healthcare costs are the asterisk. And more often than not, in San Antonio, the healthcare index sits at 96 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about (that's pre-tax, of course).
In plain English: If you're comparing cities, this is the number to watch. It's fine. Not great, not bad. Top 5 separated by only 2 points. The race is tight: San Antonio, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Laredo are all within 2 points of each other. At this level, differences in rent, taxes, or a single category can sway the decision. That's a meaningful edge in practice.
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 Ranked: San Antonio — cost index 93, rent $1,361/mo, income $62,917
Top 5 separated by only 2 points
Retiree-weighted scoring: healthcare index 96, no state income tax, cost index 93 — protecting fixed retirement income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
1,495,295 residents · Texas
In plain English: Here's San Antonio by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). And from what we can tell, 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. This is the type of edge you don't see advertised.
678,958 residents · Texas
Dive into El Paso's numbers: cost index 94 — we had to double-check this one — (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. Surprising? Maybe. But the data's clear.
316,595 residents · Texas
At $1,433/month — a detail that tends to get overlooked — for rent and a cost index of 93, Corpus Christi is pretty much what you'd expect from a mid-size city in this part of the country. Income is $66,325. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
266,878 residents · Texas
The #4 spot goes to Lubbock, and the breakdown explains why. And for the typical household, 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
Laredo earns its position at #5 through a combination that's hard to replicate. And from what we can tell, the 91 cost index sits 21 points below the national baseline, and the $63,264 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — median income means purchasing power here is amplified by the low cost base. Homes list at $217,648 — $249,722 below the national median — a genuine ownership opportunity. On the cost side, Housing leads the way at 78, while Healthcare trails at 94 (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
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 retirees 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.