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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Austin to Cape Coral

Austin, TX vs Cape Coral, FL

Simple answer

You'd likely save $18 a month in Austin.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $87, with Cape Coral higher.

Texas has no tax on wages. Florida has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 1.2 percentage points, higher in Texas. The effective property tax gap is 0.56 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Texas to Florida, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Austin lines up with about $78,276 in Cape Coral on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Austin

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,817
HUD area
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,784
All-items price parity
98.1
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
82.0
Mean commute
28.2 min
Median household income
$99,897

Cape Coral

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,835
HUD area
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,871
All-items price parity
102.3
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
86.9
Mean commute
31.9 min
Median household income
$83,602

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$78,276

Salary in Cape Coral that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$78,824

Gross salary in Cape Coral whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$75,743

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxTexasFlorida
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.2%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.31%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,246 a year in Texas and $3,016 in Florida. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Florida

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Texas and once in Florida. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AustinMaybe

    Cape CoralMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AustinLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AustinUnlikely

    Cape CoralUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Florida · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Austin

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Austin.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.