Moving to Arizona from Texas
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Texas to Arizona — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Texas to Arizona, you would find that Arizona is 9.6% more expensive than Texas. A $75,000 salary in Texas would need to be roughly $82,200 in Arizona to maintain the same lifestyle. Houston and Phoenix are about 1,000 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Arizona? Get a shortlist of towns in Arizona that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Arizona cheaper than Texas?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 9.9% more
Groceries
pay 5.6% more
Transportation
pay 1.4% more
Housing
pay 23.4% more
Childcare
pay 16.7% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.7% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Arizona?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $82,200
To maintain the same standard of living in Arizona
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Arizona cost about 4% more than cities in Texas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Texas and Arizona stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Texas generally does better on safety, though Arizona leads in property crime rate.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Arizona performs significantly better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Texas generally does better on what about housing?, though Arizona leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Arizona performs significantly better than Texas across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Texas generally does better on employment & economy, though Arizona leads in median household income.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Texas generally does better on family life, though Arizona leads in bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Arizona vs Texas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Houston | Phoenix |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 67°/48°F (20°/9°C) | 73°/49°F (23°/10°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 86°/67°F (30°/19°C) | 95°/69°F (35°/20°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 93°/73°F (34°/23°C) | 103°/80°F (40°/27°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 73°/53°F (23°/11°C) | 77°/54°F (25°/12°C) |
View all months
| Month | Houston | Phoenix |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63°/43°F (17.2°/6.2°C) | 69°/46°F (20.3°/7.6°C) |
| Feb | 66°/47°F (19.1°/8.1°C) | 72°/49°F (22.1°/9.3°C) |
| Mar | 73°/53°F (22.8°/11.4°C) | 78°/53°F (25.7°/11.9°C) |
| Apr | 80°/59°F (26.4°/15.2°C) | 86°/60°F (29.9°/15.7°C) |
| May | 86°/68°F (30.2°/19.8°C) | 95°/69°F (34.8°/20.6°C) |
| Jun | 91°/73°F (33.0°/22.9°C) | 104°/77°F (39.9°/25.1°C) |
| Jul | 94°/75°F (34.3°/23.9°C) | 106°/83°F (41.0°/28.1°C) |
| Aug | 94°/75°F (34.7°/23.8°C) | 104°/82°F (40.1°/27.8°C) |
| Sep | 90°/70°F (32.1°/21.0°C) | 100°/75°F (37.8°/24.1°C) |
| Oct | 82°/61°F (27.8°/16.1°C) | 89°/64°F (31.8°/18.0°C) |
| Nov | 72°/52°F (22.5°/11.2°C) | 76°/52°F (24.7°/11.1°C) |
| Dec | 64°/45°F (17.9°/7.0°C) | 67°/45°F (19.6°/7.1°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Arizona than Texas?
Day-to-day costs in Arizona run about 10% higher than Texas on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Arizona?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $20,550 in Arizona for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Arizona safe?
Texas generally does better on safety, though Arizona leads in property crime rate.
How is healthcare in Arizona compared to Texas?
Arizona performs significantly better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Arizona compared to Texas?
The average high temperature in Phoenix is 87°F, compared to 80°F in Houston. Phoenix receives around 8.2 in of rainfall per year, while Houston gets 49.8 in.
