State guides
Cheapest cities in Texas
The lowest cost-of-living cities across Texas.
Where Texas is most affordable: the cities (30k+ residents) with the lowest cost-of-living index in the state.
Published by WhereToHQ research. Calculated from committed source data with no generated editorial text.
What the ranking shows
- San Juan, TX leads this list at 77 for cost of living index.
- Across the 15 published entries, cost of living index ranges from 77 to 82. The other columns show tradeoffs that the headline order cannot capture.
| # | City | Cost of living index | Median home price | 2-bedroom rent | Median household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Juan, TX36k | 77 | $126,700 | $898/mo | $56,562 |
| 2 | Brownsville, TX189k | 78 | $139,900 | $908/mo | $52,130 |
| 3 | Pharr, TX80k | 78 | $121,900 | $980/mo | $52,814 |
| 4 | Harlingen, TX72k | 78 | $140,600 | $931/mo | $53,645 |
| 5 | Port Arthur, TX56k | 78 | $107,400 | $1,035/mo | $46,354 |
| 6 | Weslaco, TX42k | 79 | $140,000 | $967/mo | $59,551 |
| 7 | Wichita Falls, TX103k | 80 | $156,800 | $1,000/mo | $60,177 |
| 8 | Mission, TX87k | 80 | $175,700 | $929/mo | $60,767 |
| 9 | Copperas Cove, TX38k | 80 | $180,500 | $894/mo | $71,225 |
| 10 | Del Rio, TX35k | 80 | $160,400 | $996/mo | $66,158 |
| 11 | Socorro, TX37k | 81 | $144,500 | $1,110/mo | $54,744 |
| 12 | Texarkana, TX36k | 81 | $171,500 | $1,015/mo | $50,573 |
| 13 | El Paso, TX680k | 82 | $184,500 | $1,034/mo | $59,745 |
| 14 | Laredo, TX258k | 82 | $193,500 | $1,010/mo | $63,915 |
| 15 | Edinburg, TX105k | 82 | $189,600 | $1,004/mo | $59,466 |
Ranked from public data we track (US Census/ACS, BLS, EIA, FEMA, NOAA, Tax Foundation) and recomputed on every data refresh. Figures are estimates for comparison, not advice; open any city to see all facets.
Candidate rules: cities in TX; 30,000 or more residents. Ranking rule: Cost of living index, lowest first.
WhereToHQ loads at most the 500 largest eligible national candidates, or 300 candidates for a state list, before applying the published rules. Missing values are excluded from a direct sort or hard filter. In a weighted score, an unknown value is neutral rather than favorable.