Texas vs Florida health insurance costs in 2026

Browse Health Plans team · Reviewed by a licensed health insurance advisor · Updated October 21, 2026

Texas is cheaper than Florida at full price, and the difference mostly disappears once a tax credit is involved. For a 40-year-old paying the full premium in 2026, the cheapest Marketplace Bronze plan costs $375 a month in Harris County (Houston) against $502 in Miami-Dade, and the median county across each state is $459 in Texas and $515 in Florida. Give that same 40-year-old $50,000 of income and the cheapest Bronze after the credit lands between $173 and $245 a month in every large county of both states, because the credit grows as the local benchmark does.

Texas and Florida are the two largest states that use HealthCare.gov, and together they account for a large share of all Marketplace enrolment in the country. Neither has expanded Medicaid, both use the federal age curve, and both have crowded insurer markets in their big metros. This guide lines up the two states county by county, explains where the price gap comes from, and shows what households on each side of the 400% line can expect. Every Marketplace figure is from the official 2026 plan file (CMS QHP Landscape PY2026, snapshot August 4, 2026); how we price explains the method.

The two states at a glance

One adult, 40, non-tobacco, full monthly premium, from the CMS plan-year 2026 Individual Medical file (snapshot August 4, 2026). Medians are across counties, not weighted by population.

Two details in that table matter more than the headline. The highest-priced Florida county is Monroe (the Keys), where the cheapest Bronze is $949 a month, nearly double the state median; the highest in Texas is Throckmorton at $581. And although Texas has the cheaper Bronze, its median benchmark Silver is slightly higher than Florida's. That combination, cheaper Bronze and a pricier benchmark, is good news for Texans with a credit, as the next sections show.

The fifteen largest counties, side by side

Here is the cheapest Bronze, the cheapest Gold and the silver benchmark for a 40-year-old in the largest counties of each state, with the number of plans sold in each county. The Texas list covers Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, the northern Dallas suburbs and El Paso; the Florida list covers Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Tampa and St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville and Fort Myers.

One adult, 40, non-tobacco, full monthly premium, CMS plan-year 2026 file (snapshot August 4, 2026). Insurers counted are those with at least one plan sold in the county.

The pattern is consistent. Every large Texas county lists a cheaper Bronze than every large Florida county, by $23 to $164 a month. Texas also has more spread inside the state: Harris and El Paso are about $75 cheaper than Tarrant, while Florida's seven big metros sit within $30 of each other except Lee. Florida's big counties offer more plans to choose from, and the price of the cheapest Gold is close to the benchmark in both states, which means Gold is often within reach of anyone with a credit.

One quirk to know in Texas: in Harris County the cheapest Gold plan ($502) costs less than the cheapest Silver plan ($586). That is a result of how insurers price Silver plans in many states, and it makes Gold worth a hard look for Houston households paying full price. Our tier guide goes into the trade-off.

Why Florida lists higher at full price

The two states use the same federal age curve and have the same number of insurers statewide, so the gap is not about rating rules. The main driver is the cost of care in Florida's big metros, which the plan file reflects in the premiums insurers filed. Florida also has an older population, which does not change any individual's premium (age rating handles that) but does shape the risk pool each insurer prices for. Texas's lowest-priced metro, Houston, has one of the most competitive Marketplace markets in the country, with 121 plans from 7 insurers in Harris County and several insurers pricing aggressively at the Bronze level.

Network type is the other difference. In both states the cheapest plans are HMOs. Of Texas's 834 plans, 549 are HMOs and most of the rest are point-of-service plans, with 33 EPOs and no PPOs. Florida's 410 plans include 316 HMOs, 45 EPOs, 35 point-of-service plans and 14 PPOs, so Florida is the only one of the two states where a Marketplace PPO exists at all. Our guide to HMO, EPO and PPO networks covers what that means in practice.

What the cheapest Bronze actually buys is similar in both states. The lowest-priced Bronze in Harris County carries a $9,800 deductible and a $10,600 out-of-pocket maximum; in Miami-Dade the cheapest Bronze has a $9,000 deductible and the same $10,600 maximum. Both are HMOs. Bronze is catastrophic coverage with preventive care included, in Houston and Miami alike.

What the tax credit does in each state

The premium tax credit pays the difference between the local silver benchmark and a fixed share of your income, so a higher benchmark means a bigger credit. That is why the Texas-Florida gap mostly closes for households under the 400% line. Here is a single 40-year-old at three incomes, cheapest Bronze after the estimated credit:

Single adult, 40, household of one, 2026 rules (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25, HHS 2025 poverty guidelines). $35,000 is 224% of the poverty level, $50,000 is 319% and $60,000 is 383%. The Marketplace sets the final credit.

At $50,000 the law expects a single person to contribute 9.96% of income, about $415 a month, toward the benchmark Silver plan in either state. The credit is the benchmark minus $415: about $177 in Harris County and $269 in Miami-Dade. Applied to the cheapest Bronze, that leaves $197 in Houston and $232 in Miami, a $35 gap instead of the $127 gap at full price. In Dallas and Tarrant, where the benchmark is higher than in Houston, the credit is bigger and the Bronze after credit is actually lower than in Harris County, which is why a cheap Bronze market is not always the best market for someone with a credit.

Below $35,000 a single 40-year-old gets a Bronze plan for close to nothing in most of these counties and, more importantly, qualifies for cost-sharing reductions on Silver plans, which cut the deductible sharply. Neither Texas nor Florida expanded Medicaid, so an adult without children earning under 100% of the poverty level ($15,650 for one person in 2026) generally gets no credit and no Medicaid in either state. That coverage gap is the same in both and is one of the hardest situations our advisors see.

Over the 400% line: full price and the private alternative

The enhanced credits of 2021 through 2025 expired at the end of 2025, so for 2026 a single person earning more than $62,600, or a couple earning more than $84,600, gets no credit in either state and pays the full prices in the tables above. That is where the Texas-Florida gap reappears in full, and where a private plan becomes worth pricing.

Private plans are medically underwritten and priced on age, sex and health, not income or county. For a healthy 40-year-old, the starting ranges our advisors typically quote are:

• Texas: man $175 to $599 a month, woman $212 to $651; couple aged 40 and 38 $372 to $934; family of four $532 to $1,094
• Florida: man $200 to $629, woman $236 to $681; couple aged 40 and 38 $420 to $993; family of four $580 to $1,153

Florida runs about $25 to $60 a month above Texas on the private side too, so the states keep their order, but a healthy household over the line in either state typically finds the private low end well under the full-price Bronze. The honest caution applies equally in both: the application asks health questions, and the carrier can decline you, charge more, or exclude a condition. Private plans are not ACA coverage, are not sold on HealthCare.gov, and do not qualify for the tax credit. Anyone with a tax credit, or with an ongoing condition, usually does better on the Marketplace, which must accept everyone at the standard rate and cannot exclude anything. Ranges are starting points for healthy applicants after the usual adjustment our advisors apply, and the final price depends on the health questions. Nothing here is a promise of what you will pay.

Moving between the two states

• A move is a qualifying event. Moving to a new county where different plans are sold opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period, as long as you had coverage before the move. Report the move to the Marketplace promptly, because your benchmark, and therefore your credit, changes with your address.
• Your credit follows the benchmark, not the state. A household at $50,000 moving from Houston to Tampa would see the full-price Bronze rise by about $100 but the after-credit Bronze rise by about $50, because the Tampa benchmark is higher and the credit grows with it.
• Networks are local. Nearly every Marketplace plan in both states is an HMO or EPO with a county-level network. A Texas plan does not cover routine care in Florida, so a household splitting time between the two states should price the Marketplace at their primary address and ask about multi-state networks on the private side.
• Price your own ZIP, not the state. The range inside each state is wider than the gap between them. The price comparison tool prices every plan sold in your ZIP code at your age and income, and the Texas and Florida state pages list all 254 and 67 counties.

To compare the two states for your own household, try the tool with a Houston ZIP, then run it again with a Florida ZIP and compare the after-credit numbers rather than the sticker prices.

Questions people ask

Sources: CMS QHP Landscape PY2026 Individual Medical file (data.healthcare.gov, snapshot August 4, 2026) for every Marketplace premium, benchmark, plan count and network type; HHS 2025 poverty guidelines (90 FR 5917) and IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 for the credit maths; carrier rate tables used by our advisors for private ranges. Figures are monthly, non-tobacco, before any credit unless stated, and can change before Open Enrollment. Tax rules summarised here are general; confirm with your tax professional.