Austin, TX vs Palm Bay, FL
Moving from Austin to Palm Bay? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $344,841 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Palm Bay at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Austin, TX, you'd need about $103,099 in Palm Bay, FL (+$3,099).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Palm Bay, FL: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 2,682 sqft in Palm Bay ($204 vs $186 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Palm Bay, FL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $23,040 | +$3,420 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $4,813 | +$167 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $4,800 | +$1,125 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,656 | −$180 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $4,200 | +$600 |
| Taxes | $9,558 | $4,459 | −$5,099 |
| Total | $42,936 | $42,968 | +$33 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Palm Bay, FL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 101.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 4.86% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 7.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.77 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $344,841 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | -2.2% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $186 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $1,920 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 7.02% |
| Capital gains tax | None | None |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $4,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $1,400 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $38 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $88 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 380 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 52 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 36.3 | 51.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |