Home prices
Texas wins on affordability. The statewide median home price in Texas sits around $345,000 in early 2026. In Florida, it's closer to $400,000. That gap widens in the desirable metros: coastal Florida and Miami are far more expensive than most of Texas, while Houston and San Antonio are among the most affordable big-city markets in the country.
Rough metro medians in early 2026:
Houston: $340,000
San Antonio: $300,000
Dallas-Fort Worth: $400,000
Austin: $450,000 (down from a 2022 peak near $550,000)
Tampa: $390,000
Orlando: $385,000
Jacksonville: $310,000
Miami: $625,000
If your top priority is the most square footage per dollar, Texas generally wins, with Houston and San Antonio leading the way.
Property taxes
Florida wins, and it's not close. Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the country, with an effective rate around 1.6 to 1.7 percent. Florida's effective rate is roughly half that, around 0.8 to 0.9 percent.
On a $400,000 home: Texas property tax roughly $6,400 to $6,800 per year vs. Florida property tax roughly $3,200 to $3,600 per year. That's a $3,000-plus annual difference on the same-priced home — over 10 years, that's more than $30,000.
Both states offer homestead exemptions for primary residences. Texas raised its school-district homestead exemption to $100,000 in 2023 with a 10 percent annual appraisal cap. Florida offers a $50,000 exemption with a tighter 3 percent cap. The Florida cap is more valuable over a long hold, while Texas's bigger exemption helps more on day one.
Home prices
Texas wins on affordability. The statewide median home price in Texas sits around $345,000 in early 2026. In Florida, it's closer to $400,000. That gap widens in the desirable metros: coastal Florida and Miami are far more expensive than most of Texas, while Houston and San Antonio are among the most affordable big-city markets in the country.
Rough metro medians in early 2026:
Houston: $340,000
San Antonio: $300,000
Dallas-Fort Worth: $400,000
Austin: $450,000 (down from a 2022 peak near $550,000)
Tampa: $390,000
Orlando: $385,000
Jacksonville: $310,000
Miami: $625,000
If your top priority is the most square footage per dollar, Texas generally wins, with Houston and San Antonio leading the way.
Property taxes
Florida wins, and it's not close. Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the country, with an effective rate around 1.6 to 1.7 percent. Florida's effective rate is roughly half that, around 0.8 to 0.9 percent.
On a $400,000 home: Texas property tax roughly $6,400 to $6,800 per year vs. Florida property tax roughly $3,200 to $3,600 per year. That's a $3,000-plus annual difference on the same-priced home — over 10 years, that's more than $30,000.
Both states offer homestead exemptions for primary residences. Texas raised its school-district homestead exemption to $100,000 in 2023 with a 10 percent annual appraisal cap. Florida offers a $50,000 exemption with a tighter 3 percent cap. The Florida cap is more valuable over a long hold, while Texas's bigger exemption helps more on day one.
Florida and Texas are the two states everyone seems to be moving to. They're the biggest winners of the work-from-anywhere shift, they both skip state income tax, and they both sell the same basic pitch: more house, more sun, and more money in your pocket than you'd keep in California, New York, or Illinois.
But they're not the same. If you're deciding between buying a home in Florida or Texas in 2026, the differences matter, and some of them will cost or save you real money every single year.
The quick verdict
Texas has cheaper homes but much higher property taxes.
Florida has pricier homes and brutal insurance, but lower property tax rates.
Neither has a state income tax.
Texas has a more diversified job market.
Florida has better weather most of the year, if you can handle hurricanes and humidity.
Both are growing fast for the same reasons, and you can't go badly wrong with either.
Florida and Texas are the two states everyone seems to be moving to. They're the biggest winners of the work-from-anywhere shift, they both skip state income tax, and they both sell the same basic pitch: more house, more sun, and more money in your pocket than you'd keep in California, New York, or Illinois.
But they're not the same. If you're deciding between buying a home in Florida or Texas in 2026, the differences matter, and some of them will cost or save you real money every single year.
The quick verdict
Texas has cheaper homes but much higher property taxes.
Florida has pricier homes and brutal insurance, but lower property tax rates.
Neither has a state income tax.
Texas has a more diversified job market.
Florida has better weather most of the year, if you can handle hurricanes and humidity.
Both are growing fast for the same reasons, and you can't go badly wrong with either.
Insurance
Florida loses this one, badly. Florida has the most expensive and most chaotic home insurance market in the country. Hurricanes, flooding, roof-related claims, and years of litigation have pushed premiums sky-high and driven carriers out of the state. A typical Florida homeowner pays $3,500 to $6,500 a year, and coastal or older homes pay far more.
Texas isn't cheap either, but it's better. A typical Texas homeowner pays $2,500 to $4,500 a year. When you stack property tax and insurance together, the two states get closer than they first look — Florida's low property taxes are partly eaten by high insurance, and Texas's high property taxes are partly offset by cheaper insurance.
Cost of living
Roughly a tie, with small edges each way. Both states sit below the national average for overall cost of living and are far cheaper than California or the Northeast. Texas tends to be a touch cheaper on housing and utilities. Florida tends to run a bit more expensive in desirable coastal areas. Neither state has an income tax, which is the headline for a lot of relocators.
Jobs and the economy
Texas has the edge on diversity. Texas has one of the most diversified economies in the country: energy in Houston, tech in Austin and Dallas, finance and corporate headquarters across Dallas-Fort Worth, healthcare in the Texas Medical Center, plus manufacturing and logistics. A long list of major companies have relocated headquarters to Texas over the past decade.
Florida's economy leans more on tourism, hospitality, healthcare, real estate, finance, and aerospace. It has grown and diversified, especially with the finance and tech money flowing into Miami and Tampa. But it's still more tied to tourism and population growth than Texas is.
Buy Smarter with Homa
Take control and save thousands on your path to homeownership
Buy Smarter with Homa
Take control and save thousands on your path to homeownership
Buy Smarter with Homa
Take control and save thousands on your path to homeownership
Climate and weather
Florida is warm and humid year-round, with mild winters that are the entire reason a lot of people move there. The trade-off is hurricane season (June through November), heavy summer humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms most summer days.
Texas is bigger and more varied. Houston is humid and subtropical, a lot like Florida, with Gulf hurricane risk. Central Texas is hot and dry in summer with mild winters. North Texas gets real seasons, including occasional ice storms and spring tornado risk — the 2021 winter freeze that took down the Texas power grid is still fresh for a lot of residents.
If you want consistent warmth and beaches, Florida. If you want something closer to four seasons and don't mind summer heat, north and central Texas give you more variety.
Quality of life
Florida gives you beaches, boating, no real winter, and a vacation-y feel in a lot of areas. The flip side is the heat, the humidity, hurricane stress, metro traffic, and constant insurance anxiety.
Texas gives you more space, a strong food and music culture, pro sports, and big-city amenities across four major metros. The flip side is the heat, the property tax bills, and the sprawl that means you'll drive a lot. Both are car-dependent, both have great food, and both have a steady stream of new residents bringing traffic and growing pains.
So which should you pick?
Pick Texas if you want a cheaper home, a more diverse job market, and you'd rather pay property tax than insurance. Pick Florida if you want beaches and year-round warmth, lower property tax rates, and you can stomach the insurance bills.
Honestly, for a lot of buyers the decision comes down to where the job is, where family is, and which weather they'd rather wake up to. The financial picture is closer than it looks once you net out taxes and insurance.
Climate and weather
Florida is warm and humid year-round, with mild winters that are the entire reason a lot of people move there. The trade-off is hurricane season (June through November), heavy summer humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms most summer days.
Texas is bigger and more varied. Houston is humid and subtropical, a lot like Florida, with Gulf hurricane risk. Central Texas is hot and dry in summer with mild winters. North Texas gets real seasons, including occasional ice storms and spring tornado risk — the 2021 winter freeze that took down the Texas power grid is still fresh for a lot of residents.
If you want consistent warmth and beaches, Florida. If you want something closer to four seasons and don't mind summer heat, north and central Texas give you more variety.
Quality of life
Florida gives you beaches, boating, no real winter, and a vacation-y feel in a lot of areas. The flip side is the heat, the humidity, hurricane stress, metro traffic, and constant insurance anxiety.
Texas gives you more space, a strong food and music culture, pro sports, and big-city amenities across four major metros. The flip side is the heat, the property tax bills, and the sprawl that means you'll drive a lot. Both are car-dependent, both have great food, and both have a steady stream of new residents bringing traffic and growing pains.
So which should you pick?
Pick Texas if you want a cheaper home, a more diverse job market, and you'd rather pay property tax than insurance. Pick Florida if you want beaches and year-round warmth, lower property tax rates, and you can stomach the insurance bills.
Honestly, for a lot of buyers the decision comes down to where the job is, where family is, and which weather they'd rather wake up to. The financial picture is closer than it looks once you net out taxes and insurance.
How Homa helps in both states
Wherever you land, how you buy the home matters as much as where you buy it. Homa is a buyer's brokerage that hands you back the buyer-side commission. You work with a licensed broker who handles your offer and negotiation, local showing specialists who tour homes with you, and a closing coordinator who runs the paperwork and deadlines. The AI tools pull comps, flag property issues, review disclosures, and evaluate climate and insurance risk before you make an offer — which matters a lot in both of these states.
Homa is live in Florida today and launching in Texas. You pay a 1 percent fee, and the rest of the buyer-side commission comes back to you at closing. On a $400,000 home, that's around $8,000 back — money you can put toward Texas property taxes, Florida insurance, a rate buydown, or just keep.
Two different states, same idea: the commission was always partly your money. Homa is how you keep it.
How Homa helps in both states
Wherever you land, how you buy the home matters as much as where you buy it. Homa is a buyer's brokerage that hands you back the buyer-side commission. You work with a licensed broker who handles your offer and negotiation, local showing specialists who tour homes with you, and a closing coordinator who runs the paperwork and deadlines. The AI tools pull comps, flag property issues, review disclosures, and evaluate climate and insurance risk before you make an offer — which matters a lot in both of these states.
Homa is live in Florida today and launching in Texas. You pay a 1 percent fee, and the rest of the buyer-side commission comes back to you at closing. On a $400,000 home, that's around $8,000 back — money you can put toward Texas property taxes, Florida insurance, a rate buydown, or just keep.
Two different states, same idea: the commission was always partly your money. Homa is how you keep it.
