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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Phoenix to San Antonio

Phoenix, AZ vs San Antonio, TX

Simple answer

You'd likely save $293 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 housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 26.7 points (Phoenix 121.2, San Antonio 94.6).

Arizona taxes wages at a flat 2.50%. Texas has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 0.3 percentage points, higher in Arizona. The effective property tax gap is 0.88 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Arizona 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 Phoenix lines up with about $68,757 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.

Phoenix

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,734
HUD area
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,819
All-items price parity
103.3
Goods price parity
95.0
Utilities price parity
93.3
Mean commute
27.6 min
Median household income
$90,133

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

$68,757

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

After state and federal tax

$65,660

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

Rent only

$62,327

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

TaxArizonaTexas
State income tax on wages2.50% flatNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.5%8.2%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.43%1.31%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,716 a year in Arizona 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 Arizona and once in Texas. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • WIC

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • School meals

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    PhoenixMaybe

    San AntonioMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    PhoenixUnlikely

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    PhoenixLikely eligible

    San AntonioLikely eligible

  • SSI

    PhoenixUnlikely

    San AntonioUnlikely

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

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

Nearby metros

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