2026 Relocation & Cost Arbitrage Engine

Relocation: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ

Data updated · Sources: HUD FY 2027 Fair Market Rents, EPI 2026 Family Budget, 2026 tax tables · Methodology

Income tax, HUD Fair Market Rents and EPI living costs for a move from Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ.

Popular Corridors:
Equivalent Salary
$92,100
To maintain parity
Cost of Living Delta
-7.9%
Overall expenditure basket
Annual Tax Delta
-$4,180
State + local taxes
Annual 1BR Rent Delta
-$108
HUD Fair Market Rents
Net Annual Buffer
-$4,072/yr
Tax + housing gain

Interactive Purchasing Power Equivalency Workbench

Adjust your current salary at origin to dynamically compute the statutory tax burden, housing costs, and discretionary cash in both markets.

Presets:
$
$30,000 $100,000 $200,000 $300,000
Origin Location

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

COL 125.6
Gross Annual Income $100,000
Federal Income Tax -$13,170
FICA (SS & Medicare) -$7,650
State Income Tax -$0
Local / City Tax $0
Net Annual Take-Home $79,180
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent -$18,360
Discretionary Cash Flow $60,820
Target Market
Destination Location

Cape May County, NJ

COL 115.7
Gross Parity Income $92,100
Federal Income Tax -$11,432
FICA (SS & Medicare) -$7,046
State Income Tax -$3,677
Local / City Tax $0
Net Annual Take-Home $69,946
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent -$18,252
Discretionary Cash Flow $51,694

EPI family budgets put living costs 7.9% lower in Cape May County, NJ than in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX, so $100,000 in Austin goes about as far as $92,100 in Cape May County. HUD's one-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $1,530 a month in Austin and $1,521 in Cape May County, $108 a year less. On the same $100,000 salary a single filer pays $4,180 more a year in federal, state and local income tax and FICA in Cape May County. Taxes and one-bedroom rent together leave you about $4,072 a year worse off. The BLS median wage across all occupations is $56,950 in Austin and $47,520 in Cape May County (BLS figure for the Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ metro area).

Itemized Cost of Living Expenditure Arbitrage

Category-by-category breakdown of monthly baseline consumption between origin and destination.

Expenditure Category Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos (Monthly) Cape May County (Monthly) Monthly Delta ($) Difference (%)
Housing (1BR Fair Market Rent)$1,530$1,521-$9-0.6%
Food & Groceries$334$412+$78+23.4%
Transportation$1,062$1,062$00.0%
Healthcare$467$465-$2-0.4%
Other Necessities$585$498-$87-14.9%
Total Taxes (Federal, State, Local, FICA)$1,735$2,083+$348+20.1%

HUD Fair Market Rent Differential

1-Bedroom Fair Market Rent -$9/mo (-0.6%)
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos: $1,530/mo Cape May County: $1,521/mo
2-Bedroom Fair Market Rent +$40/mo (2.2%)
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos: $1,817/mo Cape May County: $1,857/mo

EPI Living Wage Benchmark Comparison

1 Adult (No Children) -$2.19/hr (-7.9%)
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos: $27.77/hr Cape May County: $25.58/hr
2 Adults + 1 Child (per earner) +$1.53/hr (6.4%)
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos: $23.78/hr Cape May County: $25.31/hr

Top Local Occupations Wage Parity

BLS median wage comparisons across benchmark roles between both metropolitan labor markets.

Occupation Title Industry Sector Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Median Cape May County Median Nominal Wage Delta Action

Major US Inter-Metro Relocation Corridors

Empirical cost differentials and statutory tax savings across high-volume migration routes.

New York-Newark-Jersey City → Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

On $100k: $8,301 less tax and $14,388 less 1BR rent a year

-30.6% COL+$22,689/yr
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont → Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

On $100k: $6,211 less tax and $17,676 less 1BR rent a year

-30.4% COL+$23,887/yr
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin → Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

On $100k: $4,805 less tax and $2,928 less 1BR rent a year

-2.2% COL+$7,733/yr
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont → Columbus

On $100k: $1,729 less tax and $19,884 less 1BR rent a year

-41.0% COL+$21,613/yr
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim → Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler

On $100k: $4,113 less tax and $10,908 less 1BR rent a year

-13.5% COL+$15,021/yr
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue → Denver-Aurora-Centennial

On $100k: $3,761 more tax and $4,188 less 1BR rent a year

-13.6% COL+$427/yr
Boston-Cambridge-Newton → Raleigh-Cary

On $100k: $1,299 less tax and $11,592 less 1BR rent a year

-16.2% COL+$12,891/yr
New York-Newark-Jersey City → Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach

On $100k: $8,301 less tax and $7,296 less 1BR rent a year

-27.3% COL+$15,597/yr

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ Relocation FAQs

About $92,100. That scales $100,000 by the ratio of the metros' cost-of-living indexes (125.6 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX, 115.7 in Cape May County, NJ, from EPI family budgets); taxes are compared separately below.

Triangular Relocation & Tax Silo

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ: State Paychecks, Rents & Reciprocal Corridor

Reverse Route: Cape May County, NJ to Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
Relocation: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ Overview

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX to Cape May County, NJ: 2026 federal, state & local income tax, HUD Fair Market Rents & EPI living costs compared on the same.

Quick answers
How much salary do I need in Cape May County, NJ to match $100,000 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX?

About $92,100. That scales $100,000 by the ratio of the metros' cost-of-living indexes (125.6 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX, 115.7 in Cape May County, NJ, from EPI family budgets); taxes are compared separately below.

Is Cape May County, NJ cheaper than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX?

EPI's family budgets for a single adult put overall living costs 7.9% lower in Cape May County, NJ than in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX. The budgets cover housing, food, transportation, health care and other necessities.