The Cheapest Places to Retire in Texas in 2026
The cheapest place to retire in Texas is Texarkana, where an ordinary week costs about 16% less than it does nationally.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) prices the same basket of rent, groceries, gas, and services in every metro area, and it scores Texarkana at 84 against a national average of 100.
We lined up all 25 Texas metro areas from the cheapest on up.
Property taxes matter more to a Texas retirement than the sticker price on the house does, and turning 65 changes what you owe for good.
Note: This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Tax rules and dollar amounts are subject to change.
1. Texarkana
Texarkana’s 84 is the lowest BEA score in Texas, and housing is why.
Local rents score just under 50 on the same scale.
That’s close to half price.
A typical home in town is worth $171,500, and the median rent runs $1,010 a month, according to Census Bureau figures.
About 18% of residents are 65 or older, the largest share of any city on this list.
You won’t be the only retiree at the pharmacy counter on a Tuesday morning.
The state line splits the city down the middle, and the federal building downtown straddles it, the only building of its kind in two states.
Stand in the lobby and you’re in Texas and Arkansas at once.
2. McAllen
McAllen and the towns beside it come in second at 85.9, with rents scoring below 56.
An apartment costs barely half of what the same place would rent for in an average American city.
Buying is where the Rio Grande Valley surprises people.
Homes run higher than you’d expect: The median value in McAllen is $190,400, well above the houses down in Brownsville and Harlingen, and the median rent is $1,049.
Winter Texans have been driving down for decades, and they fill the RV parks from Mission to Pharr between November and March.
The parks fill up fast.
Only 13% of McAllen residents are 65 or older year round, so the retiree crowd swells and thins with the calendar.
3. Brownsville
Houses cost less in Brownsville and Harlingen than anywhere else in this ranking except Port Arthur.
Their shared price level is 86, third lowest in the state.
A typical Brownsville home is worth $139,900.
In Harlingen, up the road in the same county, it’s $140,600.
Median rent sits at $923 in Brownsville and $928 in Harlingen, per Census figures.
Groceries cost less too.
Even goods, the things you carry out of the store, cost about 6% less than the national average.
Harlingen leans older, with 16% of residents past 65 against Brownsville’s 13%, and its RV parks stay busy every winter.
Both cities sit in Cameron County at the bottom of the state, close enough to the Gulf for a beach afternoon and a drive home before dinner.
4. Laredo
Laredo lands fourth at 87, and the housing math there runs backwards from the Valley’s.
Renting is the bargain, and buying isn’t: A typical Laredo home is worth $193,500 while the median rent holds at $1,030.
Interstate 35 starts in Laredo and runs north from there, so freight rolls through town at all hours.
Only 10% of residents are 65 or older, the youngest mix on this list.
Summers run long.
5. Longview
Longview’s 89.5 puts it fifth in Texas, with rents scoring 67.
Houses are the trade-off, since a typical Longview home is worth $202,600, more than any other city on this list except Victoria.
Renting looks better.
The median runs $1,101 a month.
Interstate 20 runs west toward Dallas and east toward Shreveport, so a specialist appointment or an airport run doesn’t eat a whole day.
The pine woods start at the edge of town, and Longview calls itself the balloon race capital of Texas.
Psst! How much do you know about Texas towns and Texas history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Texas History Pop Quiz
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6. Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls ties Longview on overall price at 89.5, and its houses cost about $46,000 less.
The median rent runs $1,022 a month.
A flood carried off the waterfall the city was named for, and residents put up a replacement in Lucy Park generations later.
The falls came back.
Every August the city hosts the Hotter'N Hell Hundred, one of the largest single-day century bicycle rides in the country.
Skip the ride and the appeal is still the arithmetic: A $156,800 house on a fixed income leaves room for the rest of the month.
7. Victoria
Victoria's 89.8 comes almost entirely from housing, which the BEA scores at 69.3 against the national average.
Goods sit at 93.8, so the grocery run saves you a little and the roof over your head saves you a lot.
Housing does the work.
The odd part is what buying costs: A typical home in Victoria is worth $207,100, the highest of these nine cities, while the median rent runs $1,172.
You get a hospital, the Guadalupe River, and a short drive to the coast without paying Corpus Christi prices.
8. El Paso
El Paso is the one big city in the cheap half of this ranking, with 683,012 residents and a price level of 89.9.
Size has its perks.
Big-city services come with it: A full slate of hospitals, an international airport, and a university, all at prices a tenth below the national average.
A typical El Paso home is worth $184,500, and the median rent is $1,073.
Rents across the metro area score 71.
The Franklin Mountains run right through the middle of the city, which is why neighbors on opposite sides of town talk about crossing the mountain to see each other.
9. Beaumont
Beaumont comes ninth at a price level of 90, and Port Arthur next door has the cheapest houses in this entire ranking.
A typical Port Arthur home is worth $107,400, with a median rent of $1,021.
In Beaumont, a typical home runs $166,400, and the median rent is $1,121.
The Lucas Gusher blew in just south of Beaumont on January 10, 1901, and threw oil over 100 feet high.
The money followed.
Beaumont has been an oil town ever since.
One cost goes up instead of down this close to the Gulf.
Insurers charge more for windstorm and flood coverage the nearer your house sits to the water, so get a quote before you sign anything.
Cheapest Places to Retire in Texas, Compared
The BEA scores all 25 Texas metro areas, and only one of them costs more than the national average.
That's Dallas-Fort Worth, at 103.1.
Psst! Your own metro area is in there somewhere. Sort the table below and see where it lands.
Your Over-65 Property Tax Break
Texas charges no state income tax, so a pension, a 401(k) withdrawal, and a Social Security deposit all land in your account without the state taking a cut.
The county makes up for it.
Local property taxes fund the schools and services in every city above, which is why the exemptions matter more than the price of the house.
School districts knock $140,000 off the taxable value of a homestead, and owners 65 and older subtract another $60,000 on top, per the Texas Comptroller.
That's $200,000 of value the school district can't touch.
Turn 65, and your school taxes stop rising for good.
The amount you owe that first year becomes a ceiling you don't go over.
Cities and counties can add an exemption of at least $3,000 on their own bills.
Voters have piled more breaks on since.
Anyone 65 or older can also defer property taxes on a homestead entirely, though the unpaid balance grows at 5% interest and comes due when the house changes hands.
Read that last part twice.
Psst! Wondering how far your savings would stretch on Rio Grande Valley prices? Run your own numbers through the calculator below.
FAQ
Quick answers to what Texans ask most about retiring cheaply.
What is the cheapest place to retire in Texas?
Texarkana. Federal price data puts its overall cost of living at about 84% of the national average, the lowest of the state's 25 metro areas, with McAllen and the Brownsville-Harlingen area right behind it.
Where are the cheapest homes on this list?
Port Arthur, next to Beaumont, where a typical home is worth $107,400. Brownsville and Harlingen come next at about $140,000, according to Census Bureau figures.
Does Texas tax retirement income?
No. Texas has no state income tax, so Social Security benefits, pensions, and withdrawals from an individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k) aren't taxed by the state. Local property taxes fund schools and services instead.
How much is the Texas homestead exemption for seniors?
School districts exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value, plus another $60,000 for owners 65 and older, which comes to $200,000 in all. Cities and counties may add at least $3,000 more.
Is the Rio Grande Valley cheap for retirees?
Yes. McAllen and the Brownsville-Harlingen area rank second and third cheapest in Texas, their rents score 55.9 and 57.7 against a national average of 100, and a typical home in Brownsville or Harlingen is worth about $140,000.
None of those exemptions apply themselves, so a homeowner who turns 65 in Texarkana or Harlingen still files the paperwork at the county appraisal district.
Skip that form, and you never get the ceiling at all, no matter how many birthdays you've had in the house.
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