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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Cape Coral to McAllen

Cape Coral, FL vs McAllen, TX

Simple answer

You'd likely save $818 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 69.2 points (Cape Coral 125.1, McAllen 55.9).

Florida has no tax on wages. Texas 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 Florida to Texas, 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 Cape Coral lines up with about $62,943 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.

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

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

$62,943

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

After state and federal tax

$61,619

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

Rent only

$41,567

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

TaxFloridaTexas
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.0%8.2%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.75%1.31%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $3,016 a year in Florida 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 Florida and once in Texas. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • WIC

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • School meals

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    Cape CoralMaybe

    McAllenMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    McAllenLikely eligible

  • SSI

    Cape CoralUnlikely

    McAllenUnlikely

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 Texas · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

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