Every other feeder-state guide on this site warns about some hidden Texas catch. For Coloradans the catch is the headline: you are leaving America’s lowest property-tax state (~0.5% effective) for a 1.8–2.5% market, and per dollar of home value your bill roughly triples. The income-tax gain is real but smaller than advertised after Colorado’s senior deductions. So why do Coloradans keep coming? Because the rest of the ledger — the house price, the equity release, the family map — can still bury the property-tax line. Whether it buries yours is arithmetic, and here it is.
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Talk to a Specialist →| Line | Colorado | Texas / DFW | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax | ~0.5% effective — a $650K Front Range home pays ~$3,000–$3,800; senior exemption halves the first $200K for 10-year residents | A $450K DFW 55+ home, over-65 filed: ~$5,800–$7,200, then the school line freezes | Colorado on rate, decisively — but note the dollars: a cheaper Texas house keeps the gap to ~$2K–$3.5K/yr, not the 3x the rates imply |
| Income tax on retirement income | 4.4% flat, minus a $24K/person retirement-income deduction at 65+ (and SS fully deductible 65+) — many retired couples pay only modestly | None | Texas, by ~$1K–$6K/yr for most — real, not transformative |
| The house | Front Range stock at $600K–$800K, bidding history included | New single-story 55+ construction, $350K–$500K | Texas — the equity release is the move’s engine: $200K–$350K freed at the closing table |
| Insurance | Hail country too — Front Range premiums have spiked toward Texas levels | ~$2,500–$3,500 typical | Near-wash, surprisingly |
| What you give up | The mountains, the climate, the 0.5% — name them honestly | Only the equity check argues back, and it argues well | |
The assembled verdict most Coloradans land on: the move loses $2,000–$3,500 a year on the property-tax line, gains $1,000–$6,000 on income tax, and releases a quarter-million dollars of equity at the door — meaning the recurring ledger roughly washes while the balance sheet transforms. Movers staying under ~$450K and seating the over-65 freeze immediately tilt the recurring side toward Texas too, since the flat $200K shield covers nearly half of an entry-priced home. The buyers for whom this move genuinely fails: those replacing a paid-off $400K Colorado home with a $650K Prosper-corridor build — tripled rate on bigger value with no equity release. Do not be that ledger.
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Front Range movers are trail people, and they sort accordingly: Elements at Viridian (the metro’s only real lakes-and-trails setting) and Windsong Ranch read most like home, while the equity-maximizers who internalized the table above land at Timberbrook or Union Park, where the entry price keeps the property-tax line closest to the Colorado memory. Start with the total cost table — and run your own version of the wash before any model home runs it for you.
Your actual Front Range basis, the equity release, and the DFW price point where your recurring costs wash — computed before you commit.
Connect with a specialist who knows this market from the inside — real cost math, honest community comparisons, and what's actually happening right now. Every agent is personally vetted by the Nova55Living founder.
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