Austin, Texas Cost Of Living

B-

7%

Overall NAT. AVG.

1%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

33%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Austin	Texas	National
Cost of living	107	92	100
Goods & Services	99	97	100
Groceries	88	90	100
Health care	103	95	100
Housing	133	83	100
Transportation	91	93	100
Utilities	94	103	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Austin is 16% higher than the Texas average
The cost of living in Austin is 7% higher than the national average
Austin housing is 33% higher than the national average
Texas general sales tax is 22% higher than the national average
Texas state income tax is 100% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$112,122	$9,344	$2,616	$3,364
Renters	$55,640	$4,637	$1,298	$1,669

The affordability of the housing market in Austin, TX as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Austin homeowners, the median income is $112,122. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $2,616 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $55,640. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $1,298 for their rent related monthly costs.

Texas Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Texas	6.25%	8.25%

Texas Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Texas	0%	0%

Goods & Services

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$32.26	$22.08	46.1%
Beauty Salon	$52.91	$42.88	23.4%
Toothpaste	$2.11	$2.57	17.7%
Shampoo	$1.04	$1.15	9.6%
Movie	$12.60	$11.51	9.5%
Bowling	$19.58	$16.62	17.8%

Groceries

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.99	$4.98	19.9%
Fried Chicken	$1.08	$1.58	31.6%
Milk	$2.14	$2.42	11.6%
Potatoes	$4.05	$3.54	14.4%
Pizza	$9.66	$11.49	15.9%
Beer	$10.27	$10.04	2.3%

Health Care

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$118.78	$117.76	0.9%
Doctor	$122.17	$125.34	2.5%
Dentist	$119.14	$107.52	10.8%
Ibuprofen	$9.09	$10.26	11.4%
Lipitor	$486.91	$459.24	6.0%

Housing

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$358,600.00	$184,700.00	94.2%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,900.69	$1,697.41	12.0%
Apartment Rent	$1,346.00	$949.00	41.8%

Transportation

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.46	$3.85	9.9%
Tire Balancing	$53.39	$57.01	6.4%

Utilities

Item	Austin	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$153.07	$177.27	13.7%
Phone	$196.79	$189.62	3.8%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Lago Vista CDP, TX	71	91	9.4%
Garfield, TX	2,506	85	15.1%
Mustang Ridge, TX	1,229	91	8.8%
Webberville, TX	395	91	8.8%
Hornsby Bend, TX	8,553	93	6.6%
Austin, TX	965,872	107	6.5%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Jacksonville, FL	902,488	91	9.2%
San Jose, CA	1,029,409	178	78.4%
Fort Worth, TX	892,221	93	7.1%
Columbus, OH	889,079	89	11.4%
Edmonton, AB	1,053,392	n/a
Austin, TX	965,872	107	6.5%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.