The seven lines
- Housing: pocket-specific — pull current figures from listings for your shortlisted pockets, then convert every rent through net-effective and every purchase through total-monthly-with-taxes. This line dwarfs the others; do it first and honestly.
- Property tax or its shadow: owners price the full stack; renters remember it's inside the rent.
- The income-tax swap: recompute your take-home under no state income tax — for many arrivals this single line funds the property-tax line.
- Insurance: auto and home/renter's both reprice in Texas; quote both before the move, not after.
- Electricity: corridor summers plus plan choice make this a real line — budget peak-season, not spring.
- Cars: the corridor is a driving life; price the commute in fuel and miles at your actual badge geometry, and a second car if your household was getting by without one.
- The everything-else basket: groceries and services won't move your decision either way — which is precisely what the indexes measure and why they miss the point.
We publish the framework rather than a number because a number would be false precision wearing confidence. Your seven lines, priced from current sources, are the real answer. Compiled August 2026.