How We Score Texas Counties
You're making one of the biggest decisions of your retirement. You deserve to know exactly how our numbers work — so here is everything: every source, every formula, and what we don't do.
The Short Version
You tell us what matters to you — low taxes, good healthcare, low cost of living, mild climate — and how much each matters (somewhat, important, or essential). We score all 30 counties from 0–100 in each category using government data, weight those scores by your priorities, and rank the results. Two people with different priorities get different rankings. That's the point.
Every Data Source We Use
| What | Source | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Property taxes | Texas Comptroller & county tax assessors | Annually |
| Cost of living | BEA Regional Price Parities (via FRED) | Annually |
| Home values & income | U.S. Census Bureau (ACS) | Annually |
| Hospital quality | CMS Hospital Compare star ratings | Quarterly |
| Climate | NOAA Climate Normals & Storm Events | Annually |
| Employment | Bureau of Labor Statistics | Annually |
All of these are public domain. We pay no data vendors, which means no vendor shapes our results.
How Each Category Is Scored
Taxes. If you plan to own, we use the county's average annual property tax bill (lower is better). If you plan to rent, we use the BEA housing/rent cost index instead, since renters don't pay property tax directly. Texas has no state income tax, so property tax is the figure that varies most between counties.
Healthcare. We combine the county's average CMS hospital star rating with the number of physicians per 100,000 residents. Both reward counties where quality care is actually accessible, not just nearby.
Cost of living. The BEA Regional Price Parity index for the county's metro area, where the U.S. average is 100. A county at 92 is about 8% cheaper than the national average.
Climate. We start from how close the county's average temperature is to 70°F, then subtract penalties for extreme weather days and extreme heat days (95°F+). Counties with mild averages but brutal summers score accordingly.
Each category is normalized to a 0–100 scale across all 30 counties, weighted by your stated priorities (a weight of 1, 2, or 3), and combined into a final score.
What We Don't Do
We don't accept payment for placement. We don't use data from commercial sites or licensed databases. We don't track you — your zip code, if you enter one, is used in your browser to estimate distances and is never sent to our servers. And we don't pretend a score is the whole story: visit before you move.
Honest Limitations
Cost-of-living data is published at the metro level, so neighboring counties in the same metro share a value. Hospital ratings measure hospitals, not every clinic or specialist. Climate normals are 30-year averages and won't capture next summer. Where the data has limits, we'd rather tell you than smooth it over.
Run your comparison →Disclaimer
This site is for informational purposes only. Nothing here is financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice, and scores are not a recommendation to buy, sell, or rent property in any location. Data is compiled from public government sources and may contain errors or become outdated; verify any figure that matters to your decision with the original source. Consult a qualified financial advisor, tax professional, or attorney before making relocation or financial decisions.