The Best Places to Retire in Texas

Texas is one of the most-searched states in the country for retirement, and the pitch is easy to see: no state income tax, a lower cost of living than Florida or the coasts, warm winters, and one of the biggest lineups of 55+ communities in America. The catch is that "retiring in Texas" means very different things depending on which corner you land in, so most of the decision comes down to picking a metro.

Texas taxes for retirees start with the biggest single draw: there is no state income tax of any kind. Social Security, pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, and annuity income are all untaxed at the state level, and Texas has no estate tax and no inheritance tax, so what you leave to heirs is not reduced by the state.

The honest trade-off is property tax, which is high and pays for the missing income tax. Effective rates average around 1.6% of home value — roughly double Florida's — which is why property taxes get more airtime in Texas retirement planning than anywhere else. The relief for seniors, however, is genuinely substantial and was expanded again for the 2026 tax year. Every Texas homeowner now gets a $140,000 general homestead exemption on school district taxes, and homeowners 65 and older get an additional $60,000 exemption on top of that, for a combined $200,000 of a home's value shielded from school taxes. Just as importantly, once you turn 65 and claim the exemption, your school district tax bill (the largest piece of most Texas tax bills) is frozen at that year's amount — your appraised value can keep rising, but the school portion of your bill generally cannot. Many counties and cities layer additional over-65 exemptions on top: Travis County adds another $143,220 and the City of Austin adds $98,500, for example. It is worth confirming the local stack with your specific appraisal district.

Sales tax is moderate: 6.25% state plus local add-ons that push the combined rate to about 8.2% in most metros. Groceries and prescription medicines are exempt. Unlike Florida, Texas has no annual cap on how much your home's appraised value can rise year to year (Florida's Save Our Homes caps it at 3%), so understanding the over-65 school-tax freeze is central to running the retirement math here.

Texas climate means hot summers and mild winters, which is exactly what most 55+ buyers are shopping for. Summers are long and genuinely hot — 100°F stretches through July and August are normal across most of the state — while winters are short and gentle, with plenty of days you can spend on the golf course or the pickleball court. That mild-winter pattern is why the Rio Grande Valley draws so many Winter Texans: daytime highs there run 60–80°F all winter with freezing weather rare.

Regional variety is real. The Gulf Coast around Houston is humid and green; the Hill Country around Austin and San Antonio sits higher and drier with rolling terrain; West Texas is high desert; and North Texas around DFW gets sharper temperature swings and occasional ice. Severe weather is the other side of the coin. Texas leads the nation in hail damage, gets tornadoes across the northern half, faces Gulf hurricanes along the coast, and — as the February 2021 winter storm proved — is not immune to disruptive freezes. The state's electric grid took real reputational damage from that event, and reliability during weather extremes remains a legitimate question buyers ask.

Overall cost of living in Texas runs at or slightly below the national average, and that is a meaningful part of the appeal. The statewide median home price sits around $345,000 as of mid-2026 (per TRERC and Redfin), well under the U.S. median near $411,000. Outside of Austin, home prices in the major metros are reasonable, and you can find well-appointed homes in resort-style 55+ communities for considerably less than in comparable Florida or Arizona builds.