Austin most expensive place to live in Texas, property experts say
AUSTIN, Texas - Many people have moved to Austin in recent years for different reasons.
"I'm a big music fan, so it's the live music capitol of the world so that kind of drew me here," Austin resident Alex Pack said.
"The brisket, the weather a little bit, and also lower cost of living, but it's climbing," Austin resident Zach Links said.
Property experts say Austin has the most expensive cost of living in Texas after analyzing city annual property tax, utilities, and home prices compared to the average annual income per capita. The median house price is $480,000 with a property tax rate of 3.13%.
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"It's starting to get a little more expensive," Links said.
"It just feels like it's getting harder and harder to afford to live here," Pack said.
The least expensive cost of living in Texas is in Midland, followed by Killeen and Odessa.
In April 2022, economic development company Jobs Ohio tried to use billboards around Austin to lure people to their state. One billboard said, "Keep Austin Weird. Like very high cost of living weird."
Although they may be right, Pack, who moved to Austin from Ohio, said he wouldn’t go back.
"I don't mind paying a little bit more but going back to Ohio from Texas would be a pretty hard sell for me," Pack said.
Some Austin residents said if rent keeps going up, moving may not be a bad idea.
"I've heard of people having their rent hiked by 400, 500, 800 dollars which is kind of scary, kind of unheard of, so yeah with every renewal, I'm kind of sitting like is it time to move, is it time to figure something else out," Links said.
A spokesperson for Texas Real Estate Source said when hunting for a new home, consider the price of living, expenses, utilities, nearby restaurants, and transport, not just the price of the house.