Cost of living in Houston Cheaper? Things aren't making sense. (sales, apartments)

[rudeboyrg]

Ok. I grew up in New York and yes NYC is expensive. Then I moved to Burlington,VT for reasons of necessity and not desire ( I hate Vermont). Now I am moving to Houston in about 2 weeks. Web pages, statistics, calculations etc all point to the fact that Houston is approx 22 percent cheaper than Burlington,VT. Utilities are 37 percent cheaper. Sweet.
But looking at the cost of living, I find this to be deceptive info. (Or perhaps I'm just not knowledgeable enough). For example, our apt is 800 dollars/month in Houston where in Burlington it was 1025. Ok its cheaper in Houston. But then we are also required to pay for renters insurance, water, and I have heard that the electricity in Houston is much more expensive. In Vermont we paid 60/month for electricity in a 2 bedrom apt. During the summer when it was hot and the air conditioner was running constantly, that price went up to 80/month. Now I'm hearing in that people in Houston are paying 3 times that amount across the board.
Gas in Houston may be cheaper? But then the commute is much longer so it seems to offsett any savings in gas. Housing is cheaper, and no sales tax, but I hear that home owners insurance is very high and property tax is insane. So I'm asking, is Houston really that cheap to live? If it is, where exactly do the savings come from?

[chris_ut]

I have never been required to hold renters insurance and only once had to pay water in an apartment. Maybe you need to shop around. You can't judge the cost of living in Houston based on the price your paying for one certain apartment. I'm sure you can find apartments in Houston that run $1025 a month as well. Electricity is higher in Harris County where it is deregulated, but most of the people you see discussing electric bills on here are talking about 3000 sq ft 2 story houses. Apartments are going to be cheaper. My last apartment my bills ran about $80-$100/month for electricity, but it wasn't in Harris County it was under Entergy which is regulated. Also Houston does have a sales tax, its income tax we don't have.

I don't know if property taxes are high. I pay $60 a month for my house which doesn't seem unreasonable. Property taxes vary, but if you live in a median priced house ($125k) and an older neighborhood (2.3% tax) your looking at $2800 a year, which again doesn't seem unreasonable.

[jfre81]

Renters insurance is too cheap to not buy though.

Why not try to live close to work if you're renting an apartment?

Also, yes, you were probably reading some rather rosy numbers but keep in mind you're moving from a small city to one of the largest ones in the country. It's hard to keep comparisons apples-to-apples like that.

[Poltracker]

Our definition of hot and your definition of hot are likely to be very different as well. Keeping that AC running while it is hot outside is a bit more costly. Houston is very likely to see 100+ temperatures in the next week, though this is actually abnormal (last happened 8 years ago).

[rudeboyrg]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Also Houston does have a sales tax, its income tax we don't have. .

Oops. I meant no State Tax.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Poltracker

Our definition of hot and your definition of hot are likely to be very different as well. Keeping that AC running while it is hot outside is a bit more costly. Houston is very likely to see 100+ temperatures in the next week, though this is actually abnormal (last happened 8 years ago).

I'm hoping the humidity stays down. We've been warm enough in June but with <50% humidity in the afternoons with a breeze. I can't complain.

At one point we were "supposed" to have 100+ this week only for it to fall significantly short. Right now, 93 with 44% humidity.

They are calling this "the year without summer" in some places, maybe we can do the same. Har.

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by rudeboyrg

Ok. I grew up in New York and yes NYC is expensive. Then I moved to Burlington,VT for reasons of necessity and not desire ( I hate Vermont). Now I am moving to Houston in about 2 weeks. Web pages, statistics, calculations etc all point to the fact that Houston is approx 22 percent cheaper than Burlington,VT. Utilities are 37 percent cheaper. Sweet.
But looking at the cost of living, I find this to be deceptive info. (Or perhaps I'm just not knowledgeable enough). For example, our apt is 800 dollars/month in Houston where in Burlington it was 1025. Ok its cheaper in Houston. But then we are also required to pay for renters insurance, water, and I have heard that the electricity in Houston is much more expensive. In Vermont we paid 60/month for electricity in a 2 bedrom apt. During the summer when it was hot and the air conditioner was running constantly, that price went up to 80/month. Now I'm hearing in that people in Houston are paying 3 times that amount across the board.
Gas in Houston may be cheaper? But then the commute is much longer so it seems to offsett any savings in gas. Housing is cheaper, and no sales tax, but I hear that home owners insurance is very high and property tax is insane. So I'm asking, is Houston really that cheap to live? If it is, where exactly do the savings come from?

Houston is huge. You will find a 1 bedroom/1 bath as low as $350 and as high as a $1000. This depends on where you want to live and what you are looking for. Electricity is cheap right now. I pay 8kwph. For commuting, it depends where you live. Overall I would say Houston is really cheap to live vs salary.

Savings come from low mortgage/low rent. Lower sales taxes. No state taxes.

[jfre81]

Property taxes can hurt if you own, but the rent market is such that high property taxes don't necessarily mean high rent. Anything is going to look cheap compared to NYC but good apartments in good locations tend to start around $700-ish. You can pay less but it may not be in the most desirable area.

[chris_ut]

I had a typo, I pay $60/month for homeowner's insurance.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

I had a typo, I pay $60/month for homeowner's insurance.

$60 a month?!? That seems awfully high, I pay $12 a month for renter's insurance. Is homeowner's really that much more?