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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Houston to New Haven

Houston, TX vs New Haven, CT

Simple answer

You'd likely save $594 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 $594: New Haven is higher at $2,091 versus $1,497.

Texas has no tax on wages. Connecticut taxes wages at rates up to 6.99%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.9 percentage points, higher in Texas. The effective property tax gap is 0.34 percentage points, higher in Connecticut.

After a move from Texas to Connecticut, 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 Houston lines up with about $79,509 in New Haven 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

New Haven

New Haven, CT

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,091
HUD area
New Haven, CT MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,600
All-items price parity
104.6
Goods price parity
97.3
Utilities price parity
144.8
Mean commute
24.1 min
Median household income
$89,645

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

$79,509

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

After state and federal tax

$84,643

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

Rent only

$104,760

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

TaxTexasConnecticut
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxup to 6.99%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.2%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.31%1.66%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,246 a year in Texas and $6,624 in Connecticut. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Connecticut

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • WIC

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • School meals

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    HoustonMaybe

    New HavenMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    HoustonLikely eligible

    New HavenLikely eligible

  • SSI

    HoustonUnlikely

    New HavenUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Connecticut · 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.