Cost of Living in Fort Worth: The Real Housing Math

The cost of living in Fort Worth is mostly a housing question, and two line items set the housing number: property tax and homeowners insurance. A cost-of-living index averages both of them across a metro. On Fort Worth’s $319,999 median sale price, those two run $11,040 to $12,440 a year, about $920 to $1,035 a month, on top of principal and interest.

I send every out-of-state client a cost comparison sheet before our first call, and the figures below are what is on it. This guide runs the arithmetic twice, once on the citywide median and once on the $600,000 tier that relocating buyers actually shop, then compares Fort Worth against Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio on price.

How the numbers in this guide work. Every dollar example is anchored to Fort Worth’s $319,999 median sale price for May 2026, and each input below names its source.

• Median sale price: $319,999, Fort Worth city, May 2026, from my market report.
• Property tax rate: about 2.2% of assessed value, Tarrant County’s combined nominal rate, from the Tarrant Appraisal District. That is the rate I underwrite year one against.
• Homestead exemption rules: the Texas Comptroller exemption pages.
• Homeowners insurance: the 2025 preliminary statewide average of $3,506 a year, from the Texas Department of Insurance, with the DFW range from the quotes my clients come back with.
• Mortgage rate: 6.95%, the 30-year fixed average for September 17, 2026, from Freddie Mac.
• Comparison medians: metro medians for June 2026, from the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s August 2026 Texas Housing Insight.
• Convention: recurring costs are given as an annual total first, with the monthly equivalent in parentheses.
• Every source above is linked once, in the list at the end of this guide.

What a Cost of Living Index Leaves Out

An index score compresses groceries, utilities, transport, healthcare, and housing into a single number scaled against a national average. Property tax and homeowners insurance are address-specific, so an index has to average them across a whole metro before it can compare cities at all. That average is close enough for a rental decision and too coarse for a 30-year note.

On the Fort Worth median, those two costs come to about $920 to $1,035 a month against about $1,695 a month of principal and interest. Anyone planning an out-of-state move should price both on a specific address before setting a budget.

What a Median Fort Worth House Costs Every Month

Fort Worth’s median sale price was $319,999 in May 2026, flat against a year earlier. Tarrant County homes went under contract in a median 29 days at 95.0% of list price, with 4,280 active listings in the week of 2026-05-19, up 18.4% from a year earlier, and 12% of listings taking a price cut.

On a $319,999 purchase with 20% down you finance $255,999, and at 6.95% over 30 years your principal and interest run about $1,695 a month. Property taxes at 2.2% add about $7,040 a year (about $585 a month). Insurance at the DFW hail-exposed rate of $4,000 to $5,400 a year adds about $335 to $450 a month. Taxes and insurance together come to $11,040 to $12,440 a year, or about $920 to $1,035 a month, which puts your all-in payment at about $2,615 to $2,730 a month. That payment is separate from the closing costs you bring to the table, which land all at once.

Snapshot

Monthly cost of a median Fort Worth house

Year-one figures on the citywide median, at 20% down. Every line is sourced in the note above.

Median sale price

$319,999, Fort Worth city, May 2026, flat against a year earlier

Loan at 20% down

$255,999 financed at 6.95%, the 30-year average for September 17, 2026

Principal and interest

About $1,695 a month

Property tax

About $7,040 a year (about $585 a month) at Tarrant County's combined nominal rate of about 2.2% of assessed value

Homeowners insurance

$4,000 to $5,400 a year (about $335 to $450 a month) at the DFW hail-exposed rate

Tax and insurance together

$11,040 to $12,440 a year, about $920 to $1,035 a month

All-in monthly payment

About $2,615 to $2,730

How fast it sells

29 median days on market in Tarrant County, at 95.0% of list price

These are year-one numbers underwritten at the full 2.2% rate, with no homestead exemption applied. Your exact tax bill depends on which city and school district your address falls in, so run the address rather than the county. Market figures are as of May 2026; the mortgage rate is as of September 17, 2026.

Texas Has No Income Tax and Tarrant County Has a 2.2% Rate

Texas levies no personal state income tax, and that shows up in the paycheck from the first pay period after the move. The offsetting cost arrives once a year. Texas funds school districts, cities, counties, hospital districts, and community colleges through property tax, and Tarrant County’s combined nominal rate runs about 2.2% of assessed value. On the $319,999 median that is about $7,040 a year, about $585 a month.

Where the 2.2% comes from

The combined rate is the sum of five separate taxing entities:

• City rate, set by whichever city your address sits in, which is not always Fort Worth.
• School district rate, the piece that moves most between addresses.
• Tarrant County rate, the same countywide figure for every address in the county.
• Tarrant County College district rate.
• Hospital district rate.

Two houses on the same street can sit in different school districts, so the county blend is the wrong lookup for a single house. My tax rates breakdown compares the rate county by county across DFW, and I pull the entity-by-entity rate for a specific address before our call.

What I leave to your accountant

I left the effective take-home comparison out of this guide on purpose. Your net pay against your current state depends on your filing situation and on rates I cannot source for your case, so that calculation belongs with your accountant.

The Homestead Exemption and Your First Tax Bill

The Texas homestead exemption removes $140,000 from your school district taxable value, up from $100,000 after voters approved Proposition 13 on November 4, 2025. That increase applies retroactively from the 2025 tax year onward. The exemption also caps annual increases in your appraised value at 10% a year. Exact savings depend on your city and school district, so run your own address through the appraisal district instead of applying a rule of thumb.

What you can claim in the year you buy

Since Texas Senate Bill 8 took effect on January 1, 2022, a buyer can receive a prorated homestead exemption in the year of purchase, covering the portion of the year you own and occupy the home as your principal residence. Two conditions apply:

• The previous owner must not have already received the exemption for that same tax year.
• You have to file the application before the first anniversary of the date you acquired the property.

The 10% appraisal cap works on a different clock. It does not start until the following tax year.

How I budget it anyway

Whether the proration lands depends on the seller’s filing history and on the appraisal district’s processing, and neither is settled when you write the offer. Underwrite year one at the full 2.2% rate, treat any exemption you receive as upside, and file the paperwork the month you close. I track the filing deadline as part of buyer representation so it does not slip past the first anniversary.

Insurance Runs Above the State Average Because of Hail

Texas homeowners insurance averaged $3,506 a year statewide on the Texas Department of Insurance’s 2025 preliminary figure. DFW quotes commonly run $4,000 to $5,400 a year because carriers price hail exposure into North Texas roofs, and where a quote lands inside that range depends mostly on roof age and dwelling coverage. Budget the DFW range rather than the state average. On the median that is about $335 to $450 a month.

Four things move an individual quote:

• Roof age. Older roofs draw higher premiums and narrow the list of carriers willing to write the policy.
• Roof material. Composition shingle, tile, and metal all rate differently.
• Dwelling coverage amount. Premiums climb as the rebuild cost rises, which is why the $600,000 tier costs more to insure than the median.
• Impact-resistant roofing. A Class 4 roof can earn a carrier discount and pull the premium back down.

Get a real quote on the exact address during the option period rather than waiting for the lender to escrow an estimate. I pay for the home inspection that surfaces roof problems under my written guarantees, so you know the roof condition while the option period is still open.

Run the Tier You Will Actually Buy In

The neighborhoods relocating professionals shortlist do not price at the citywide median. The bands below are my own read from touring these cities rather than a published index: Keller runs $450K to $700K inside Keller ISD, Colleyville starts near $600,000, and Mansfield runs $350K to $550K inside Mansfield ISD.

At the $600,000 tier, a Colleyville house is the common example. Applying 2.2% to it is illustrative only, because Colleyville is its own city and sits in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, so its combined rate differs from the Tarrant County blend and the address has to be run before you budget. At that illustrative 2.2%, taxes run about $13,200 a year, about $1,100 a month. Insurance starts at the same $4,000 to $5,400 a year and climbs with dwelling coverage, so taxes and insurance alone come to at least $17,200 to $18,600 a year, about $1,435 to $1,550 a month. Principal and interest on a $480,000 loan add about $3,175 a month, which puts the all-in payment near $4,610 to $4,725 a month. Underwrite that figure rather than the median, which is why I model your actual price band during the consultation.

The two tiers side by side

Monthly line item	$319,999 median	$600,000 tier
Loan at 20% down	$255,999	$480,000
Principal and interest at 6.95%	about $1,695	about $3,175
Property tax at 2.2% of assessed value	about $585	about $1,100 (illustrative rate)
Homeowners insurance	$335 to $450	$335 to $450, higher with coverage
All-in monthly payment	about $2,615 to $2,730	about $4,610 to $4,725

What this means for a family budget

Families comparing Fort Worth on cost are usually comparing school districts, and in this metro the district is priced into the house. Moving from the $319,999 citywide median to the $600,000 Colleyville entry point is mostly a school district premium, and it carries a tax difference of roughly $585 a month against about $1,100 a month along with it, before any change in principal and interest. My Keller representation page covers one district boundary quirk worth an afternoon of touring, and the full neighborhood guides list price bands and school districts side by side.

Fort Worth Against Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio

Against the other Texas markets transferees choose between, Fort Worth competes on price. The four metro medians below are for June 2026, from the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s August 2026 Texas Housing Insight, the most recent edition. The Fort Worth row is a city median for May 2026 from my own market report, so it is not a like-for-like comparison with the metro rows.

Market	Median Sale Price	Home Price Index vs. the Same Month a Year Earlier
Fort Worth (city, May 2026)	$319,999	flat
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro (June 2026)	$399,000	still below year-ago levels on the Dallas-Plano side, and narrowing
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro (June 2026)	$440,000	down 2.2%
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro (June 2026)	$344,000	still below year-ago levels, and narrowing
San Antonio-New Braunfels metro (June 2026)	$322,500	down about 2%

The third column is a separate series from the second. A median moves with which houses happened to sell that month, while the price index holds the mix constant and measures each market against the same month one year earlier. Statewide, that index was down 0.4% in June 2026 against June 2025. County tax rates are deliberately absent from the table, because a single county rate would mislead you: your bill depends on which city and school district your address falls in.

Austin shows the widest gap in the table. Austin’s metro median of $440,000 sits about 38% above Fort Worth’s $319,999, which read the other way is Fort Worth about 27% below Austin.

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro median of $399,000 sits about 25% above Fort Worth’s $319,999 on an identical state tax regime, because it blends in Dallas-side and Collin County submarkets, and that spread is where the intra-metro saving comes from. The same report splits the metro in two on its price index: Fort Worth-Arlington has posted two consecutive months of year-over-year price gains while the Dallas-Plano side is still below year-ago levels, so the Fort Worth discount is narrowing rather than widening. Houston’s $344,000 sits about 7.5% above Fort Worth’s $319,999. San Antonio’s $322,500 is within 1% of Fort Worth’s median, so on price the two are level and the housing case for Fort Worth against San Antonio has to rest on something other than the median.

Price Your Own Address Before You Make an Offer

Every figure above is a citywide or tier-level benchmark. The number on a specific house comes from that house’s own tax rate and its own insurance quote. Six things move the monthly payment, and all six are checkable before you write an offer.

Before you budget

Six numbers to pull on the actual address

Run all six on the specific address rather than on the citywide median. Each one changes a number you live with for as long as you own the house.

• Price the tier, not the citywide median$319,999 is a city-wide figure. The bands I see touring these cities run $450K to $700K in Keller and $350K to $550K in Mansfield, and the tax scales with the price.
• Pull the tax rate for the address, not the countyTarrant's combined nominal rate is about 2.2%, and the city, school, county, college, and hospital district mix behind it changes street to street.
• Get an insurance quote on the exact addressBudget the DFW range of $4,000 to $5,400 a year rather than the 2025 preliminary Texas average of $3,506. Roof age and dwelling coverage decide where inside that range you land.
• Underwrite year one at the full rateA prorated exemption can apply in the year you buy, but it depends on the seller's filing history, so budget the full 2.2% and treat any reduction as upside.
• File the exemption before the first anniversary of closingIt removes $140,000 from school district taxable value, retroactive to the 2025 tax year, and the 10% cap on appraised value increases starts the tax year after you buy.
• Add the closing costs to the monthly mathWhat you pay at the table is a separate calculation from the payment, and it lands all at once.

Two of those line items come off your sheet when you work with me. I pay for the home inspection, around $600, on both sides of a deal, and I pay a $500 moving credit at closing.

Check Every Figure Yourself

Every number in this guide comes from a published source you can open in a browser.

Resources

Primary sources behind every figure

Every external source named in this guide is linked here, once each. The first three are the primary sources behind the tax rate, the homestead exemption, and the insurance average.

• Tax rates by entityTarrant Appraisal District

  The city, school district, county, college, and hospital district rates that add up to the roughly 2.2% combined nominal rate.

• Property tax exemptionsTexas Comptroller

  The $140,000 school district homestead exemption, the 10% appraisal cap, and the rules for claiming a prorated exemption in the year you take title.

• Homeowners insurance market overviewTexas Department of Insurance

  The 2025 preliminary statewide average of $3,506, plus how carriers rate by region and coverage amount. The $4,000 to $5,400 DFW range is my own, from the quotes my clients come back with.

• Primary Mortgage Market SurveyFreddie Mac

  The weekly 30-year average behind the 6.95% used in every payment calculation here, as of September 17, 2026.

• Texas Housing Insight, August 2026Texas Real Estate Research Center

  The June 2026 metro medians and home price index changes for Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio in the comparison table. Published monthly, so check for a newer edition.

• Fort Worth market reportConner Nielsen

  The $319,999 city median, 29 median days on market, 95.0% sale-to-list ratio, and active listing count, refreshed monthly.

• My written guaranteesConner Nielsen

  All thirteen commitments with the dollar amount attached to each one, signed before you sign anything.

Get the Comparison Sheet Before Your First Call

The sheet I send out-of-state clients is built on the address range they are actually shopping. It shows principal and interest at the current 30-year rate, property tax at the rate for that city and school district, and an insurance range for that roof age.

Book a free 10-minute Initial Consultation and I will build yours before we talk. It is a Zoom call where I tell you plainly whether the numbers work at your price band. You can also reach me at 806-928-8884.

My written guarantees cover the step after that: $0 commission for buyers, a paid home inspection around $600, earnest money covered by personal check if I cause the loss, a $500 moving credit at closing, cancellation by text, and $100 by Venmo or Zelle any time I am late or misleading. Texas license NTREIS-0704632, sponsored by broker John Hill at Close Real Estate in Fort Worth, with 300+ closed transactions and 102 independently verified on HAR.com.

If you are earlier in the process, my relocation guide covers commutes, school districts, and move timing.