COST OF LIVING IN TEXAS
Let’s start with housing prices and our current inventory levels. Our housing prices are one of the things that make it so attractive to live in Texas.
I’m recording this video on September 8, 2021. The last report we have for the Texas median home price shows that we’re up 19.3% year over year and the median home price is now at $298,013.
Our latest report for the entire Texas market shows our months of inventory is at 1.3 months. This means that if no new listings came on the market, it would take less than one and a half months for all the homes currently for sale, to sell, based on the current demand. Six months is considered to be a balanced market. The median price for Dallas is $364,400. Houston is at $301,000 and Austin is at $465,900.
Outside of Texas, the Median home price for Q2 2021 was $756,000 for LA, $348,600 for the city of Chicago and $536,700 for the New York/Jersey City area.
So that’s owning a house, what about renting?
According to RENTCafé the average rent for an apartment in Dallas is $1,338 per month. The average rent in Houston is $1,172/month and the average rent in Austin is $1,539 per month.
Outside of Texas the average rent is $2,450 for LA, $2,012 for Chicago, and for Manhattan it’s a whopping $3,872/month.
So that talks about getting into a home, whether you’re going to buy it or rent it.
Now lets talk average cost for all the other stuff.
Homeowners Insurance.
Agh. You’ve gotta have it and Texas is on the high side. The average cost of homeowners insurance for $250,000 dwelling coverage is $1,863.
Your energy bill is going to average about $175/month. But the good news is that Texas is deregulated. This simply means that consumers have options and can compare rates and services for the third-party supplier portion of the electricity bill.
A gallon of gas currently costs $2.82 in Texas. It’s currently September 2021. If you’re watching this much later, put a comment below asking about an update and I’ll get you that information.
If you like going to restaurants to eat. Texas has a ton of options and we are pretty smitten with our barbecue. In the larger cities and suburbs, if you want something nice but not necessarily upper scale, you can expect to pay $20-$30 for an entree, drinks will run you about $12-$15 a piece and appetizers around $10-$15.
Our grocery prices are 6.3 points below the national average.
You can also see here that we’re in a good place when it comes to our positioning with the rest of the country when it comes to healthcare and we are below the national average.
Property taxes. I did a whole video about property taxes in Texas. We have high property taxes in Texas and depending on where you are in the metroplex, the tax rate can vary. It’s going to range mostly from 2% to 3% in the urban areas and their suburbs. We have PIDs, MUDs, and PUDs and you should definitely watch that video about Taxes in Texas get more information. Overall, Texas ranks as one of the highest for property tax rates. For example, a home in the City of Dallas that isn’t in a special tax district, the current rate is 2.71%.
That’s property taxes, and then there’s our state income tax. Just kidding. WE DON’T HAVE ONE! So yeah, our property taxes are high but you don’t pay a state income tax.
Now what about commuting? The average one-way commute in Texas takes about 26.4 minutes.
Okay, so now you know a little bit about Texas, how do you know where to live? Well, I can help you with that. I’m a Texas Realtor and if you’re thinking about a move to Texas, I can definitely help you with that and help you find the ideal place to live for what works for you and anyone else coming along with you.