Relocation · Cost comparison
What moving here actually costs you.
No state income tax is the headline. Higher property tax is the part that arrives later. This compares the two honestly, on published rates and your own figures, and it is perfectly willing to conclude that the move costs you more each year.
No email required, nothing gated, and nothing stored against your name.
Where you are now
Today
Top marginal bracket. California is steeply progressive, so most households pay well below this.
One line on your state return: your total state tax liability for the year — not the amount withheld from your pay, and not your refund. Leave it blank and the category is left out of the result rather than estimated.
For reference only: California's top marginal rate is 13.3% (2026), but that applies only to income in the highest bracket — your actual liability is almost certainly lower. It is a ceiling, not your bill, and it is never used in the comparison. Use the figure from your return.
Take it from your bill. Leave it at zero if you don't know it and the category is left out of the result rather than estimated.
Where you're heading
Dallas–Fort Worth
A typical Dallas–Fort Worth combined rate, editable, and not a quote for any address.
The honest difference
On these numbers the move costs about $3,414 more a year.
That is the honest direction on your numbers, and it is a perfectly ordinary result — Texas property tax rates are among the higher ones in the country, and for some households that outweighs having no state income tax. The tool is worthless if it only ever says come to Texas.
| Annual | California | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | $9,500 | $12,914 |
| Net annual difference | $3,414 against | |
The house itself
The home you are describing here costs about $200,000 less than the one you own now. That is a one-off difference in what you are buying, not an annual saving — turning it into a monthly figure needs a mortgage rate, and this site never quotes, estimates or suggests one.
Left out on purpose
- State income tax — left out rather than estimated. Effective rates depend on filing status, deductions and the mix of your income, so a published rate is a ceiling, not your bill. Your last return has the real number: enter your total state tax liability and it will be compared.
This is an illustration built from the figures you entered. State income tax is never estimated here: the figure comes from your own return or the category is left out, because effective rates depend on filing status, deductions and the mix of your income, and a published top marginal rate is a ceiling rather than a bill. Published rates for 2026 are shown as context only and are not used in any calculation. The Texas property tax figure is an estimate — rates vary by county, city, school district, MUD and PID. Nothing here is tax, legal or financial advice, an appraisal or a property valuation, and no cost-of-living figure has been estimated for any category left blank.
Then the useful conversation is what would make it work.
Most of my clients arrive from another state, and the search starts before they land. A consultation covers the price point, the timing and what the tax line really does to a monthly payment here.
Relocation costs
What people ask about this.
- Does moving to Texas always save money?
- No, and this tool will tell you when it does not. Texas levies no state income tax, which is a genuine saving for a high earner in a high-tax state. Texas property tax rates are also among the higher ones in the country, which works the other way. Which effect wins depends on your income, your current bill and the price of the home you buy here, and the comparison is honest enough to come out negative.
- Why does the comparison ask what I paid in state income tax instead of working it out?
- Because working it out would overstate it. Applying a state's top marginal rate to gross income can be roughly double the real liability in a steeply progressive state like California or New York, and the error always runs in the direction that flatters moving to Texas. Your effective rate depends on your filing status, your deductions and the mix of your income, and your last return already has the real number on one line: your total state tax liability, not the amount withheld and not your refund. Leave it blank and the category is left out rather than estimated. The published top rate is shown beside the field as a ceiling for context only and is never used in the arithmetic.
- Why is the housing difference shown separately instead of as an annual number?
- Because turning a difference in home price into a monthly figure requires a mortgage rate, and this site does not quote, estimate or suggest a rate in any form. So the price difference is shown as what it is — a one-off change in what you are buying. If you want the monthly picture, take a rate a lender has actually given you to the rent versus buy calculator.
- Why are some categories missing from my result?
- Because we would have had to guess. If you rent today there is no current property tax bill to compare, and if you have not entered your current bill the category is left out rather than estimated. Same with states we have not published a rate for. A missing line is more honest than an invented one.
Next
Bring the numbers, and let's be straight about them.
A private consultation for anyone moving into Dallas–Fort Worth — price point, timing, and what the Texas tax line does to a monthly payment.