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15 Best Places in Texas for a Couple To Retire With Just $100K in Savings

September 19, 2024

8 min Read

Written by Heather Taylor

Edited by Levi Leidy

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A comfortable retirement can cost upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, for retirees in many cities throughout the United States. However, this is not true of every U.S. city or state. Retirees on a tight budget that want to retire in Texas will be happy to hear there are more than a few cities to choose from where $100,000 in savings goes a long way.

Where can you retire in Texas with just $100K? To find out, GOBankingRates sourced Texas cities with populations aged 65 and over. Each city’s average cost of living for retired households was calculated by finding the cost-of-living indexes and the national average expenditure costs to determine each city’s average expenditure cost. Additional factors sourced include the average mortgage cost and the average Social Security benefits. The average couple’s income was removed from the average cost of living to find the average cost of living for retired residents after Social Security benefits.

Keep reading to see which 15 Texas cities you can retire in with $100K in savings.

Odessa

Population total: 113,353
Population aged 65+ (#): 11,179
Population aged 65+ (%): 9.9%
Total households: 43,802
Livability index: 74
Average home value (March 2024): $221,976
Average mortgage cost: $1,352
Average expenditure cost: $1,829
Total monthly cost of living: $3,181
Total annual cost of living: $38,169
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $4,854
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.33
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 20.60

Bridge City

Population total: 9,461
Population aged 65+ (#): 1,193
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.6%
Total households: 3,259
Livability index: 72
Average home value (March 2024): $199,287
Average mortgage cost: $1,214
Average expenditure cost: $1,818
Total monthly cost of living: $3,032
Total annual cost of living: $36,383
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $3,069
Drawdown $100k single (years): 7.14
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 32.58

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Ingleside

Population total: 9,713
Population aged 65+ (#): 1,230
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.7%
Total households: 3,480
Livability index: 73
Average home value (March 2024): $211,829
Average mortgage cost: $1,290
Average expenditure cost: $1,791
Total monthly cost of living: $3,081
Total annual cost of living: $36,975
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $3,660
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.85
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 27.32

Laredo

Population total: 255,293
Population aged 65+ (#): 24,436
Population aged 65+ (%): 9.6%
Total households: 74,380
Livability index: 73
Average home value (March 2024): $209,469
Average mortgage cost: $1,276
Average expenditure cost: $1,685
Total monthly cost of living: $2,961
Total annual cost of living: $35,527
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $2,212
Drawdown $100k single (years): 7.60
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 45.20

Jacinto City

Population total: 9,589
Population aged 65+ (#): 1,240
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.9%
Total households: 3,084
Livability index: 71
Average home value (March 2024): $166,577
Average mortgage cost: $1,015
Average expenditure cost: $1,874
Total monthly cost of living: $2,888
Total annual cost of living: $34,659
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $1,345
Drawdown $100k single (years): 8.14
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 74.37

McAllen

Population total: 142,722
Population aged 65+ (#): 18,715
Population aged 65+ (%): 13.1%
Total households: 47,077
Livability index: 75
Average home value (March 2024): $225,362
Average mortgage cost: $1,373
Average expenditure cost: $1,701
Total monthly cost of living: $3,074
Total annual cost of living: $36,885
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $3,571
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.89
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 28.00

Lubbock

Population total: 258,190
Population aged 65+ (#): 31,774
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.3%
Total households: 102,894
Livability index: 78
Average home value (March 2024): $208,256
Average mortgage cost: $1,268
Average expenditure cost: $1,906
Total monthly cost of living: $3,175
Total annual cost of living: $38,095
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $4,780
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.36
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 20.92

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Waco

Population total: 140,545
Population aged 65+ (#): 18,142
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.9%
Total households: 52,256
Livability index: 73
Average home value (March 2024): $196,949
Average mortgage cost: $1,200
Average expenditure cost: $1,709
Total monthly cost of living: $2,908
Total annual cost of living: $34,901
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $1,587
Drawdown $100k single (years): 7.98
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 63.02

Abilene

Population total: 126,356
Population aged 65+ (#): 17,102
Population aged 65+ (%): 13.5%
Total households: 46,030
Livability index: 75
Average home value (March 2024): $195,929
Average mortgage cost: $1,193
Average expenditure cost: $1,824
Total monthly cost of living: $3,018
Total annual cost of living: $36,212
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $2,897
Drawdown $100k single (years): 7.23
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 34.51

Corpus Christi

Population total: 317,804
Population aged 65+ (#): 45,963
Population aged 65+ (%): 14.5%
Total households: 117,555
Livability index: 80
Average home value (March 2024): $220,016
Average mortgage cost: $1,340
Average expenditure cost: $1,830
Total monthly cost of living: $3,170
Total annual cost of living: $38,037
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $4,723
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.38
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 21.17

Nederland

Population total: 18,569
Population aged 65+ (#): 3,017
Population aged 65+ (%): 16.2%
Total households: 7,272
Livability index: 75
Average home value (March 2024): $194,175
Average mortgage cost: $1,183
Average expenditure cost: $1,722
Total monthly cost of living: $2,904
Total annual cost of living: $34,854
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $1,539
Drawdown $100k single (years): 8.01
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 64.97

El Paso

Population total: 677,181
Population aged 65+ (#): 91,453
Population aged 65+ (%): 13.5%
Total households: 239,624
Livability index: 81
Average home value (March 2024): $222,484
Average mortgage cost: $1,355
Average expenditure cost: $1,716
Total monthly cost of living: $3,071
Total annual cost of living: $36,852
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $3,537
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.91
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 28.27

Brownsville

Population total: 186,999
Population aged 65+ (#): 22,997
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.3%
Total households: 56,876
Livability index: 79
Average home value (March 2024): $185,996
Average mortgage cost: $1,133
Average expenditure cost: $1,710
Total monthly cost of living: $2,842
Total annual cost of living: $34,109
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $795
Drawdown $100k single (years): 8.52
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 125.78

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Seminole

Population total: 7,024
Population aged 65+ (#): 880
Population aged 65+ (%): 12.5%
Total households: 2,649
Livability index: 84
Average home value (March 2024): $221,599
Average mortgage cost: $1,350
Average expenditure cost: $1,754
Total monthly cost of living: $3,104
Total annual cost of living: $37,243
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $3,929
Drawdown $100k single (years): 6.73
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 25.45

Panhandle

Population total: 2,743
Population aged 65+ (#): 638
Population aged 65+ (%): 23.3%
Total households: 1,127
Livability index: 83
Average home value (March 2024): $180,132
Average mortgage cost: $1,097
Average expenditure cost: $1,725
Total monthly cost of living: $2,823
Total annual cost of living: $33,872
Total annual cost of living for couple after Social Security benefits: $557
Drawdown $100k single (years): 8.70
Drawdown $100k couple (years): 179.48

Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned in the article was used.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities in Texas to find the best places to retire for a couple with $100k in savings. First GOBankingRates found cities in Texas for their population, households, population aged 65 and over, and percent aged 65 and over all sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. For each city the average cost of living for retired households was calculated by finding the cost of living indexes as sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and the national average expenditure costs then, calculating the average expenditure cost for each city. The average mortgage cost was found by using the average home value in March 2024, as sourced from Zillow Home Value Index, and the average national 30 year fixed mortgage rate as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data. The average Social Security Benefits was found from the Annual Statistical Supplement from the Social Security Administration and the average couple’s income was removed from the average cost of living to find the average cost of living for retired residents after Social Security Benefits. Using $100k in savings the time it would take to drawdown those savings can be calculated. In order to qualify for this study, the couple would have to be able to drawdown on their savings for at least 20 years, taking them to be 85 years old before potentially running out. The livability index was found for each city as sourced from AreaVibes. The percent population aged 65 and over was scored and weighted at 1.00, the livability index was scored and weighted at 2.00, the cost of living for a couple was scored and weighted at 1.00. All three scores were summed and sorted to show the best places in Texas for a couple to retire with just $100k in savings. All data was collected on and is up to date as of April 29, 2024.

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