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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Boise City to McAllen

Boise City, ID vs McAllen, TX

Simple answer

You'd likely save $523 a month in McAllen.

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 housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 49.7 points (Boise City 105.6, McAllen 55.9).

Idaho taxes wages at a flat 5.30%. Texas has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 2.2 percentage points, higher in Texas. The effective property tax gap is 0.88 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Idaho to Texas, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Boise City lines up with about $65,475 in McAllen on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Boise City

Boise City, ID

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,540
HUD area
Boise City, ID HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,628
All-items price parity
98.4
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
70.7
Mean commute
23.8 min
Median household income
$88,695

McAllen

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,017
HUD area
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX MSA
Census median gross rent
$971
All-items price parity
85.9
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
81.2
Mean commute
22.9 min
Median household income
$56,720

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

$65,475

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

After state and federal tax

$61,092

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

Rent only

$49,529

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

TaxIdahoTexas
State income tax on wages5.30% flatNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.0%8.2%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.43%1.31%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,713 a year in Idaho and $5,246 in Texas. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Texas

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • WIC

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • School meals

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    Boise CityMaybe

    McAllenMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    Boise CityUnlikely

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • SSI

    Boise CityUnlikely

    McAllenUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Boise City the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In McAllen it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” Idaho expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Texas · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Boise City

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

Nearby metros

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