You've done the math. California's statewide typical home value of $773,735 is sitting in one column of your spreadsheet, and Aubrey's typical home price of $346,440 (Zillow ZHVI, July 2026) is sitting in the other. The gap is real, it's large, and it's what's driving more California families into Denton County than anyone in Aubrey expected. What the spreadsheet doesn't prepare you for is how different the pace of life feels — a city of just over 9,000 residents where new master-planned subdivisions went up quickly, where US-380 carries most of the daily traffic, and where the nearest major airport is Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, 36 miles away. That combination of rural scale and rapid suburban build-out is Aubrey's defining tension, and no amount of tax math settles it for you.
Aubrey sits at the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, in Denton County, roughly about 25 minutes to Frisco on a reasonable day. The economic backbone here is newer than you might expect: Aubrey Independent School District, which has 4,897 students enrolled in 2025-26 and holds a B rating, according to the Texas Education Agency, is the city's largest institutional employer. The City of Aubrey itself is the second. Residential growth has been the real engine — Silverado and Sandbrock Ranch alone account for thousands of planned homes, drawing young families, remote workers, and transplants who've been priced out of closer-in DFW suburbs and, increasingly, out of California entirely.
On pure numbers, the financial case for leaving California is difficult to argue against. Texas levies no state income tax, electricity rates run well below what California residents pay, and homeowners insurance in Aubrey doesn't carry the wildfire-driven premium spikes that have hammered California policyholders. What you give up is density of services, cultural amenities, and the kind of walkable urban life that parts of California have in abundance. Aubrey is a suburb of a suburb — most errands require a car, and a serious night out or a specialist appointment means a drive of real consequence. For the full cost picture, the cost of living page goes deeper on utilities, groceries, and what a household budget actually looks like here.
Whether you're already committed or still comparing ZIP codes, the sections below break down the tax and financial shift from California to Aubrey, what the home-buying landscape looks like here versus what you left, how the schools and neighborhood structure compare, and what daily life in this part of north Texas is genuinely like for people who made the move.
The Tax Shift: What You Stop Paying and What Gets Bigger
The most immediate financial change for any Californian moving to Aubrey is the state income tax. California's graduated income tax reaches a top state rate of 13.3%, administered by the California Franchise Tax Board; Texas has no equivalent agency collecting state income tax at all. The savings are real across most income levels, and for high earners the difference is the single largest financial benefit of the move.
For dual-income households, the math compounds quickly. The median household income here sits at $100,596, and for anyone near or above that figure, the Texas income-tax advantage is one of the most immediate and durable wins of the move.
The Property Tax Reality
Here is where California transplants get an honest shock. California's effective property tax rate of 0.71% looks low because Proposition 13 has kept many longtime homeowners assessed far below market value. But you're not a longtime California homeowner anymore — you're a buyer at current prices, and in Texas you will be assessed annually at or near full market value with no such cap in place.
Aubrey's effective property tax rate is 1.73%. On a home at the city's typical price, that's a property tax bill meaningfully higher than what you'd face on the same purchase price in California — and substantially higher if you're comparing against what a long-tenured California neighbor pays on a home they bought decades ago. The 2025 Texas legislative session raised the general homestead exemption for school district taxes from $100,000 to $140,000, which reduces owner-occupant liability, but the rate itself is still the largest single financial adjustment most Californians make when they arrive.
Sales Tax: Closer Than You Think
California's statewide base sales tax rate of 7.25% is just the floor — in parts of Los Angeles County, combined local rates reach 10%. Texas's state rate is 6.25%, and Denton County can add local levies up to the 8.25% maximum combined ceiling. In practice, the sales tax difference between California and Aubrey is modest. The income tax difference is not.
| Tax Category | California | Aubrey / Texas |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | Graduated, top rate 13.3% (California Franchise Tax Board) | None |
| Effective property tax rate | 0.71% (Tax Foundation) | 1.73% |
| Statewide base sales tax | 7.25% (California Dept. of Tax and Fee Administration) | 6.25% state; up to 8.25% combined in Denton County |
| Homestead exemption | Proposition 13 assessment cap (purchase-price basis) | $140,000 school district exemption for owner-occupants (2025) |
| Annual property assessment | Capped at 2% annual increase under Prop 13 | Reassessed at or near full market value annually |
| State estate / inheritance tax | None | None |
The honest summary: you gain significantly on income tax and modestly on sales tax, and you absorb a higher property tax rate with no long-term assessment cap to soften it over time.
Home Prices and What Your California Budget Buys Here
California's statewide typical home value of $773,735 (Zillow) sets the comparison point. Aubrey's typical home price is $346,440 (Zillow ZHVI, July 2026). That's not a rounding difference — it's a different category of purchase entirely.
In practical terms, a budget that bought a modest two-bedroom condo in many California markets buys a four-bedroom house in one of Aubrey's newer master-planned communities. Silverado and Sandbrock Ranch — two of the largest subdivisions that built out rapidly — offer new construction at various price points, drawing buyers who want space, modern finishes, and a yard that didn't require a bidding war to obtain. For a broader look at how neighborhoods compare, see the best neighborhoods page.
What Californians Should Know Before Making an Offer
New construction dominates much of Aubrey's housing inventory, which means builder contracts and builder-preferred lenders rather than the traditional resale negotiation most California buyers are used to. Read builder contracts carefully — upgrade costs and lot premiums can move a base price meaningfully upward from the advertised figure.
One honest note on affordability: Aubrey's median household income of $100,596 sits just below the income level needed to comfortably carry the city's typical home price. That gap is narrow, but it's real, and it signals that even at these prices relative to California, buyers here are stretching. Factor in the 1.73% property tax rate when calculating what you can sustain monthly. For guidance on the buying process itself, the first-time homebuyer page covers what to expect step by step.
Homeowners Insurance: A Cost That Goes Down
California homeowners insurance premiums have risen sharply, driven by the state's wildfire exposure. Aubrey doesn't face that same risk profile. Texas has its own weather considerations (hail and severe storms are real), but the baseline insurance cost for most Aubrey buyers runs noticeably below what they were paying in California. For many transplants, this is the financial surprise they didn't expect to be pleasant.
Everyday Costs: Energy, Gas, and the Budget Line Items That Add Up
The income tax and home price differences get all the attention, but the monthly utility bill tells a parallel story. Texas electricity rates run well below California's — a gap that shows up every month on the bill, not just in annual tax filings. For a household running central air through a DFW summer, that difference is substantial.
Aubrey summers are long and genuinely hot. August temperatures regularly exceed 100°F, and the air conditioning runs for months in a way that most coastal California transplants haven't experienced. The lower electricity rates cushion that, but don't expect a light electricity bill in July — expect a manageable one.
Gasoline and Driving Costs
Texas gas prices run consistently and noticeably below California's — a gap that matters more in Aubrey than it would in a walkable urban setting, because you will be driving. US-380 and US-377 are the main corridors, and virtually every errand involves a drive.
A serious shopping run means leaving Aubrey. The local commercial base is growing but still thin relative to what California transplants are accustomed to. Plan on a drive toward Frisco or Denton for anything beyond basics, and factor that into your weekly routine before you commit.
Healthcare Costs in Context
Health insurance premiums in Texas run noticeably below what most California residents were paying, which is one of the budget line items that compounds the income tax savings. The practical trade-off is access: routine care is available locally, but for specialist care you will drive farther than you did in most California metro areas. That's worth pricing into the decision, especially for families with specific medical needs.
California's overall cost of living runs approximately 38–39% above the national average; Texas sits below it. Housing is the largest driver of that gap, but energy, fuel, and insurance all point in the same direction. The full utility and transportation cost breakdown lives on the cost of living page.
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Schools, Safety, and What Families Find When They Arrive
Aubrey Independent School District is the institution most families research first, and the picture is mixed in ways worth understanding before you buy. The district holds a B rating, according to the Texas Education Agency — a solid middle tier by the state's A-F accountability system. On 2024-25 state assessments, 46% of students reached math proficiency and 55% reached reading proficiency. Those are below the rates that many California transplants moving from higher-performing districts are used to, and being clear-eyed about it matters.
With 4,897 students enrolled in 2025-26, the district is still relatively small, and the rapid residential growth in Aubrey has added enrollment pressure that the district is actively managing. The district supports active UIL athletics programs, and the community culture around Friday night football is genuine — it's one of the first social anchors new families find. For the full school picture including boundary details, see the schools page.
Safety
Aubrey carries a violent crime rate of 1.91 per 1,000 residents and a property crime rate of 10.67 per 1,000 residents — both well below Texas state benchmarks and national figures. For California transplants accustomed to urban crime rates in larger metros, Aubrey's numbers will read as a meaningful improvement. The safety page goes deeper on what the data means at the neighborhood level.
What Families Discover After Six Months
The most common adjustment isn't the taxes or the commute — it's the social calendar. California transplants arrive expecting a suburb and find a community that is still actively building its own identity. The neighborhoods in Silverado and Sandbrock Ranch have their own pocket amenities and resident cultures, but a shared downtown gathering spot the way older Texas cities have is still developing. Aubrey City Park and the Ray Roberts Greenbelt trails provide outdoor anchors; Lake Ray Roberts gives the area something genuinely distinctive. The social life you build here is more intentional than it was in a denser California city.
Weekends, Local Flavor, and What Aubrey Actually Feels Like
Aubrey's dining and coffee scene is smaller than most California transplants expect, and growing faster than anyone who visited two years ago would recognize. The verified local anchors worth knowing: Tender Smokehouse Aubrey for Texas barbecue done seriously, Tokyo House for Japanese, Dos Mezclas Restaurant and Bar for Mexican, and a shawarma spot that's genuinely different in a north Texas suburb. Upper Park Cafe rounds out the sit-down options with a casual neighborhood feel.
On the coffee side, TEACO, Dumont Creamery and Cafe, Oro Café and Pastries, and Canelita Coffee and Co. give the city more independent coffee options per capita than you might expect for a city this size. These aren't chains filling a strip mall — they're the kind of places that become default morning stops quickly. Gathered in one area or spread across the corridors, they're what makes Aubrey feel like a city rather than just a subdivision cluster.
Outdoors and the Geographic Advantage
Lake Ray Roberts is the genuinely distinctive asset — a 29,000-acre reservoir that sits in a way no Dallas suburb closer to the city can claim. The Ray Roberts Greenbelt trails connect the lake system with a linear corridor that runners, cyclists, and families use year-round. Aubrey City Park serves as the community's central green space for everyday use. For Californians who built their weekends around outdoor access, this is the part of Aubrey that tends to exceed expectations.
Aubrey gets 229 sunny days a year — meaningfully more than most coastal California markets, though summer heat pushes a lot of outdoor activity to early morning or evening. The seasonal quirk that surprises most newcomers isn't the heat itself; it's the hailstorm season in spring, which moves fast, damages roofs, and becomes a recurring annual conversation with your insurance carrier in a way it simply wasn't in California.
Historic Downtown Aubrey
Historic Downtown Aubrey is small by any measure — a handful of blocks with the character of a town that predates the master-planned growth surrounding it. It's not a destination in the way that Denton's square is, but it's genuine. The contrast between the old downtown core and the new construction neighborhoods a few miles out tells you something honest about where Aubrey is in its own evolution: a city that knows what it's growing toward but hasn't fully arrived yet. That's either a reason to wait, or a reason to buy now. Most people who moved from California made their decision before they had an answer to that question.
Local Expert Takeaway: The income tax elimination is real and it compounds every year, but don't let it crowd out the property tax math — Aubrey's 1.73% rate, assessed annually at full market value with no Proposition 13 cap, is the number that surprises most California transplants six months in. Run both figures together before you decide what you can afford. The neighborhoods in Silverado and Sandbrock Ranch offer new construction at prices that genuinely don't exist in most California markets, but builder contracts require attention and upgrade costs add up fast. If you can handle a car-dependent daily life, a commute of about 25 minutes to Frisco, and a social calendar that you build more deliberately than you did in California, the financial case for Aubrey is hard to dismiss.
Quick Takeaways & FAQs
✅ Texas levies no state income tax, which means most households keep meaningfully more of each paycheck the moment they cross the state line.
⚠️ Aubrey's effective property tax rate of 1.73% — assessed at full market value with no California-style cap — is the cost most transplants underestimate until their first tax bill arrives.
📍 Aubrey has grown rapidly since 2020, driven by Silverado and Sandbrock Ranch; buyers are entering a city that is still actively building its own identity, which is either an opportunity or a risk depending on your timeline.
Is it actually cheaper to buy a home in Aubrey than in California?
Do I really pay zero state income tax if I move to Texas?
What should California transplants know about property taxes in Aubrey?
How are the schools in Aubrey compared to what I had in California?
What's the biggest lifestyle adjustment for Californians moving to Aubrey?
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