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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Houston to Jacksonville

Houston, TX vs Jacksonville, FL

Simple answer

You'd likely save $197 a month in Houston.

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 Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $197: Jacksonville is higher at $1,694 versus $1,497.

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 Houston lines up with about $75,650 in Jacksonville on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Houston

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,497
HUD area
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,469
All-items price parity
98.6
Goods price parity
100.6
Utilities price parity
95.3
Mean commute
31.1 min
Median household income
$81,417

Jacksonville

Jacksonville, FL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,694
HUD area
Jacksonville, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,625
All-items price parity
99.5
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
87.5
Mean commute
27.4 min
Median household income
$82,053

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

$75,650

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

After state and federal tax

$75,759

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

Rent only

$84,870

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)

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • WIC

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • School meals

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    HoustonMaybe

    JacksonvilleMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    HoustonLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • SSI

    HoustonUnlikely

    JacksonvilleUnlikely

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 Houston

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

Nearby metros

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