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Cost & Benefits

Compare / New Orleans to San Antonio

New Orleans, LA vs San Antonio, TX

Simple answer

You'd likely save $39 a month in San Antonio.

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 $160, with San Antonio higher.

Louisiana taxes wages at a flat 3.00%. Texas has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 1.9 percentage points, higher in Louisiana. The effective property tax gap is 0.78 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Louisiana 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 New Orleans lines up with about $76,716 in San Antonio on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

New Orleans

New Orleans-Metairie, LA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,480
HUD area
New Orleans-Metairie, LA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,262
All-items price parity
92.6
Goods price parity
93.7
Utilities price parity
71.2
Mean commute
24.9 min
Median household income
$62,373

San Antonio

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,441
HUD area
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,422
All-items price parity
94.7
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
82.2
Mean commute
27.6 min
Median household income
$78,112

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

$76,716

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

After state and federal tax

$74,294

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

Rent only

$73,024

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

TaxLouisianaTexas
State income tax on wages3.00% flatNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 202610.1%8.2%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.53%1.31%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,127 a year in Louisiana 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 Louisiana and once in Texas. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • WIC

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • School meals

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    New OrleansMaybe

    San AntonioMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    New OrleansUnlikely

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    New OrleansLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • SSI

    New OrleansUnlikely

    San AntonioUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In New Orleans the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In San Antonio it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” Louisiana 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 New Orleans

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

Nearby metros

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