$75,000 in Austin maps to roughly $58,333 of equivalent purchasing power in San Antonio on consumer prices alone. The composite index gap is -22.2%, with housing carrying -37.7% of that move. Source: C2ER ACCRA quarterly cost-of-living index, BLS CPI 2024 weights.
If your goal is to land in San Antonio with the same consumer-spending power you have in Austin, multiply your current salary by 0.778. That ratio is the C2ER ACCRA composite index of San Antonio divided by the composite of Austin (91/117).
| Austin salary | Equivalent in San Antonio | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $38,889 | -$11,111 |
| $75,000 | $58,333 | -$16,667 |
| $150,000 | $116,667 | -$33,333 |
Aggregated indexes are useful for headline comparisons but rarely match an individual household's experience. The five-category breakdown for Austin and San Antonio below makes the underlying drivers visible so you can map them against your own line-item budget mix.
| Category | Austin | San Antonio | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Rent + median home price | 138 | 86 | -37.7% |
| Groceries Supermarket basket | 95 | 90 | -5.3% |
| Transportation Fuel, transit, parking | 102 | 95 | -6.9% |
| Healthcare Doctor visits, prescriptions | 98 | 95 | -3.1% |
| Utilities Electric, gas, internet | 104 | 96 | -7.7% |
| Composite | 117 | 91 | -22.2% |
The composite index gap between Austin, TX and San Antonio, TX is real: roughly 22 index points separate the two metros on C2ER ACCRA's published quarterly cost-of-living survey. Translated to a household budget, that gap shows up most loudly in housing (38% lower in San Antonio), with secondary effects on utilities and groceries. Healthcare and transportation move less between the two cities — those line items track regional patterns more than metro-specific ones.
What this means for a relocation decision: every dollar of Austin salary stretches further in San Antonio, but the stretch is not uniform across categories. A family-of-four budget heavy on housing and groceries sees a bigger improvement than a single renter who already keeps rent low and spends mostly on dining and travel. Sketch your actual category mix before deciding what a "fair" pay adjustment looks like — most remote-pay zone formulas under-credit the housing-heavy household and over-credit the dining-heavy one.
The cost-of-living index is a pre-tax measure. Add state tax to get the after-tax picture: Texas at 0.00% versus Texas at 0.00%. The $75,000 anchor shows $0 owed in Texas versus $0 in Texas, a $0 swing on top of the consumer-price gap.
Model the precise after-tax difference with the take-home pay calculator using your specific filing status and salary. Federal tax is identical regardless of which state you live in; only the state component moves. See the take-home pay calculator or the state-by-state take-home pay article for the precise after-tax number.
Short answer: no. San Antonio runs 22% below Austin on C2ER ACCRA (91 vs 117). Housing accounts for most of the gap; groceries, transportation, and utilities chip in smaller pieces.
To maintain the same standard of living you have in Austin, TX on $75,000, you would need to earn approximately $58,333 in San Antonio, TX. The formula is straightforward: multiply your current salary by the ratio of the two cost-of-living indexes (91 ÷ 117 = 0.78). The result covers consumer prices but not state income tax differences — see the state-tax sidebar for that adjustment.
Housing carries the gap. Austin indexes at 138 on housing; San Antonio indexes at 86. The other categories — groceries (95 vs 90), transportation (102 vs 95), utilities (104 vs 96) — move smaller distances. Housing variance is what makes metros feel meaningfully different on cost.
State tax is a separate adjustment. The composite cost-of-living index is a pre-tax, consumer-prices-only measure. Texas and Texas state-tax rates differ; the sidebar quantifies that gap at common salary anchors so you can add it to the consumer-price equivalent and get an after-tax number.