Quick Answer
A single filer keeps about $7,000 more per year at $100,000 in Texas and about $12,300 more at $150,000, because California adds income tax and 1.3% SDI. Texas property tax is higher for an identical home, but the gap is smaller than the income tax gap. California's cost-of-living index (142 vs 93) is the larger factor.
Short answer: on wages alone, a single filer moving from California to Texas keeps about $7,000 more per year at a $100,000 salary and about $12,300 more at $150,000, because Texas has no state income tax, while California charges both income tax and a 1.3% disability insurance payroll deduction. But that is only half the comparison. Texas property tax is a bigger bill for the same home price, and the gap in everyday costs (California's cost-of-living index is 142 against Texas at 93 in LifeCalc's data) is far larger than the tax gap for most people. Whether Texas wins for you depends on which of those three numbers you actually pay.
Below, every figure is computed from the tax and cost-of-living data behind LifeCalc's calculators, with the inputs shown so you can check them. Where a figure depends on an assumption, the assumption is labeled.
Take-Home Pay: Texas vs California at Six Salaries
Inputs: single filer, wages only, 2026 federal brackets with the $16,100 standard deduction (IRS), FICA at 6.2% Social Security (to $184,500) plus 1.45% Medicare, California brackets from LifeCalc's state tax table, and California State Disability Insurance at 1.3% with no wage cap in 2026 (EDD). Federal tax and FICA are identical in both states, so the whole difference is the California columns.
| Salary | CA income tax | CA SDI (1.3%) | Take-home in CA | Take-home in TX | Texas advantage |
|---|
| $50,000 | $1,535 | $650 | $40,170 | $42,355 | $2,185 |
| $75,000 | $3,414 | $975 | $57,203 | $61,592 | $4,389 |
| $100,000 | $5,739 | $1,300 | $72,141 | $79,180 | $7,039 |
| $150,000 | $10,389 | $1,950 | $101,452 | $113,791 | $12,339 |
| $250,000 | $19,689 | $3,250 | $160,243 | $183,182 | $22,939 |
| $500,000 | $44,766 | $6,500 | $289,211 | $340,477 | $51,266 |
Three things stand out. First, California's combined state cost (income tax plus SDI) runs from 4.4% of pay at $50,000 to 7.0% at $100,000 and 8.2% at $150,000, well under the 13.3% headline rate, which only applies to income above $1 million. Second, SDI is a real cost that most comparisons leave out: $1,300 a year at $100,000, and since 2024 it applies to every dollar of wages. Third, the LifeCalc engine applies California's brackets to gross wages without California's standard deduction, so the California tax column is slightly high (roughly the deduction times your marginal state rate); treat the gaps as an upper bound of a few hundred dollars. Run your own numbers in the tax calculator or see a per-paycheck view in the paycheck calculator. State detail lives on the Texas and California tax pages.
Sales Tax: Closer Than You Would Expect
Texas levies a 6.25% state sales tax, and local governments can add up to 2 points for a maximum 8.25% (Texas Comptroller). California's statewide base rate is 7.25%, with district taxes of 0.10% to 2.00% layered on top (CDTFA). Most Texas shoppers pay the 8.25% cap, and California shoppers in many cities pay more than that. The sales tax gap is real but small next to the income tax gap. What Texas does not do is drop taxes to zero; it moves them into sales and property taxes.
Property Tax: Where Texas Gives Some of It Back
The rules differ structurally, and that matters more than the average rate:
- California (Proposition 13): the property tax rate is limited to 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved local bonds. Assessed value resets to market value only on a change of ownership or new construction, and otherwise can rise at most 2% a year (California BOE, Publication 29). A long-time owner can pay a fraction of what a new buyer next door pays. If you are moving to California, you are the new buyer: your bill is tied to your purchase price, not to the old owner's.
- Texas: there is no state property tax; local taxing units set the rates (Texas Comptroller). School districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value from school taxes, and other units may add a local exemption of up to 20% (Comptroller, exemptions). You must apply through the county appraisal district, generally by May 1.
The Texas combined rate varies by county and district, so the table below shows a range. The rates are illustrative assumptions, not measured averages: 1.1% for a new California purchase (the 1% cap plus a modest local levy) and 1.8% or 2.0% for a Texas home.
| Home value | CA at 1.1% | TX at 1.8%, no exemption | TX at 1.8%, after $140K exemption* | TX at 2.0%, after $140K exemption* |
|---|
| $400,000 | $4,400 | $7,200 | $4,680 | $5,200 |
| $600,000 | $6,600 | $10,800 | $7,560 | $8,400 |
| $900,000 | $9,900 | $16,200 | $13,680 | $15,200 |
*Simplification: the exemption applies to school taxes only, so this treats the whole rate as school tax and slightly overstates its benefit. Treat the exemption columns as a floor for a Texas bill.
The takeaway is not "Texas property tax is higher." It is that for the same price, a Texas homeowner pays somewhere between about $300 and $2,800 a year more than a new California buyer on a $400,000 home, which a $7,000 to $12,000 income tax gap easily absorbs at $100,000 to $150,000. The picture reverses only when you compare different homes. If the Texas house is far cheaper than the California house you would otherwise buy, property tax falls in absolute dollars even at the higher rate. At those assumed rates, a Texas home has to cost only about 61% of the California price (1.1 divided by 1.8) for the tax bill to match, and typical price gaps between, say, Austin and Los Angeles are larger than that. Model the whole purchase, not just the tax, in the rent vs buy calculator or home affordability calculator.
Cost of Living: The Gap That Decides It
LifeCalc's state cost-of-living index (national average = 100) is 142 for California and 93 for Texas, a 53% difference. At city level, the same data gives Los Angeles 166, San Diego 160, San Francisco 179, San Jose 214, and Sacramento 125, against Houston 96, Dallas 104, Austin 112, and San Antonio 91. The index is a composite that includes housing, so it captures rent and home prices without needing a separate price table.
To turn that into an answer, we asked a concrete question: what California salary leaves you with the same take-home pay, after adjusting for the cost-of-living index, as a Texas salary? Method: take Texas take-home, divide by its index; then solve for the California gross whose take-home, divided by California's index, equals that. Taxes use the same inputs as the first table.
| Texas salary | Texas take-home | Equivalent California salary (state indexes 93 vs 142) | Raise needed |
|---|
| $75,000 | $61,592 | $137,172 | +83% |
| $100,000 | $79,180 | $183,673 | +84% |
| $150,000 | $113,791 | $274,651 | +83% |
| $250,000 | $183,182 | $480,991 | +92% |
This is a blunt heuristic: it scales your whole budget by the index, and few people spend a uniform share on each category. It also compares two state averages, not two metros. It is best read as a direction and magnitude: the cost-of-living gap, not the tax gap, is what a California employer has to pay you to move you.
City pairs
Same method with metro indexes for a single filer:
| Move | $75K in Texas needs | $100K needs | $150K needs |
|---|
| Austin (112) to Los Angeles (166) | $132,400 | $177,540 | $265,281 |
| Austin (112) to San Francisco (179) | $144,779 | $192,585 | $290,248 |
| Houston (96) to Los Angeles (166) | $158,746 | $208,925 | $318,877 |
| Dallas (104) to San Diego (160) | $138,405 | $185,186 | $277,185 |
| San Antonio (91) to Sacramento (125) | $120,859 | $162,662 | $242,849 |
Now compare that with the pay premium employers typically add. LifeCalc's salary-adjustment table (a modeling assumption, not a measured wage survey) puts Los Angeles at 1.15 and San Francisco at 1.35 against Austin at 1.05, which is a premium of about 10% and 29%. The premium needed to match Austin's purchasing power at $100,000 is 78% for LA and 93% for San Francisco. Unless your California job pays far above the local norm, the move costs you purchasing power. See the pairs side by side in Los Angeles vs Austin and San Francisco vs Austin, and city detail in Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. For your own salary and origin city, use the relocation calculator.
Worked Example: $120,000, Ten Years
The old version of this post promised a ten-year gap. Here it is with shown math. On a $120,000 single-filer salary, California takes $7,599 in income tax and $1,560 in SDI ($9,159 combined) that Texas does not. Take-home is $84,091 in California and $93,250 in Texas.
- Ten years, no growth in salary or investment: $9,159 x 10 = $91,590.
- If that gap were invested every year at 7% (LifeCalc's default investment return assumption): about $126,545 at the end of year ten.
Both numbers hold the tax gap fixed and ignore that Texas housing might absorb some of it (see the property tax table) and that California's cost of living may consume all of it (see above). They are the ceiling on the tax benefit, not a forecast.
Where California Gives You Something Back
- Paid family leave. California workers fund SDI through payroll and can claim up to 8 weeks of Paid Family Leave in a 12-month period, at up to $1,765 per week for 2026 (EDD). Texas has no state program. If you expect a child in the next few years, use the California PFL calculator to see the actual weekly benefit; the 1.3% SDI is partly this insurance premium.
- Childcare is worse in California, not better. LifeCalc's state childcare data puts infant care at $17,472 a year in California and $10,836 in Texas, a $6,636 difference that erases about half of the $12,339 tax advantage at $150,000 for a family with one infant. Model your situation in the baby cost calculator.
- Prop 13 protection once you own. After you buy, California's 2% cap on annual assessed-value increases keeps your bill predictable for as long as you stay. It is a long-run benefit for owners who stay put, not a discount on a new buyer's first-year bill.
Who Actually Comes Out Ahead?
- Remote worker keeping a California salary, moving to Texas: the clearest win. You keep the pay and lose the cost-of-living index. At $150,000 that is $12,339 in taxes plus a lower cost base. Confirm that your employer's payroll follows you and check the residency rules before you change your address.
- Local hire taking a Texas job at a Texas wage: the tax gap is small next to the wage gap, and most of the gain is housing. Use the salary lookup to compare offers.
- Someone earning $250,000 or more in California: the tax gap is largest ($22,939 at $250,000), but the raise you would need to be neutral on cost of living is also largest. Run the exact case in the job offer comparison.
- A renter with no plans to buy: property tax is invisible except through rent, so the case rests on income tax and housing cost.
Bottom Line
Texas beats California on payroll taxes by $2,185 at $50,000 up to $22,939 at $250,000 for a single filer, before you count property tax. For the same house price, Texas property tax costs more, but not enough to erase the income tax difference at typical salaries. The decisive factor is the cost of living. California's index runs 53% above Texas, and a move only makes financial sense if your pay follows you or your housing costs drop. Start with the relocation calculator, then test your exact salary in the tax calculator.
Methodology note: tax figures come from LifeCalc's 2026 tax engine and bracket data as described above; cost-of-living indexes are LifeCalc's dataset (national average = 100), not a government statistic; property tax rates in the table are labeled assumptions. Nothing here is tax advice.
Sources