California vs Texas: which really costs more?
The most-discussed relocation corridor in the country, and a near-perfect tax contrast: California has progressive income tax and the highest combined sales tax rate we track; Texas has no income tax at all.
California
- State income tax
- 3.90%
- Rank of 51
- 20
- Combined sales tax
- 9.75%
- Rank of 51
- 2
Income tax shown is the effective state rate on a $75,000 salary for a single filer; sales tax is the combined state and local rate in each state's representative county. Both figures come from the same verified datasets the calculator uses.
What things actually cost in each
Gross income required at a $75,000 salary, using each category's default assumptions — sorted by the biggest difference between the two states.
| Category | California | Texas | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | $1,393,868 | $1,125,123 | $268,746 cheaper in Texas |
| Car purchase | $153,607 | $132,099 | $21,508 cheaper in Texas |
| Wedding | $54,097 | $46,162 | $7,935 cheaper in Texas |
| Coffee habit | $29,490 | $25,305 | $4,186 cheaper in Texas |
| Car payment or lease | $18,974 | $16,529 | $2,445 cheaper in Texas |
| Funeral | $13,031 | $11,372 | $1,659 cheaper in Texas |
| Phone plan | $11,213 | $9,794 | $1,419 cheaper in Texas |
| Pet annual cost | $2,725 | $2,382 | $343 cheaper in Texas |
| Rent | $2,887 | $2,559 | $328 cheaper in Texas |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $2,112 | $1,846 | $266 cheaper in Texas |
| Childcare | $1,764 | $1,564 | $201 cheaper in Texas |
| Hotel stay | $1,122 | $994 | $128 cheaper in Texas |
| Health insurance premium | $722 | $640 | $82 cheaper in Texas |
| Student loan payment | $642 | $569 | $73 cheaper in Texas |
| Domestic flight | $526 | $466 | $60 cheaper in Texas |
| Utilities | $337 | $299 | $38 cheaper in Texas |
| Weekly groceries | $281 | $249 | $32 cheaper in Texas |
| Car insurance | $265 | $235 | $30 cheaper in Texas |
| Concert ticket | $240 | $210 | $30 cheaper in Texas |
| Restaurant dinner | $169 | $148 | $21 cheaper in Texas |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $113 | $101 | $13 cheaper in Texas |
| Internet service | $112 | $100 | $13 cheaper in Texas |
| Gym membership | $79 | $69 | $10 cheaper in Texas |
| Streaming bundle | $79 | $69 | $10 cheaper in Texas |
| Gas fill-up | $72 | $64 | $8 cheaper in Texas |
| Pizza delivery | $65 | $57 | $8 cheaper in Texas |
| Haircut | $67 | $60 | $8 cheaper in Texas |
| Food delivery | $62 | $55 | $8 cheaper in Texas |
| Soft drinks | $42 | $37 | $5 cheaper in Texas |
| Rideshare trip | $35 | $31 | $4 cheaper in Texas |
| Fast food meal | $21 | $18 | $3 cheaper in Texas |
| Bar drink | $19 | $17 | $2 cheaper in Texas |
| Cigarettes or vape | $16 | $14 | $2 cheaper in Texas |
Across the 33 categories we can compute for both states, Texas comes out cheaper more often. That is not the whole picture — housing costs, wages, and property tax vary far more than sales tax does, and none of those are modeled here. See limitations.