Lived in Dallas and College Station for far longer than I'd prefer, and I can contrast to NYC - taxes and rent is incomparably different. Everything else just depends on your lifestyle choices. You can buy groceries in Dean and Deluca and your coffee in La Colombe, or you can shop in a dollar store and get a coffee for a buck from a stall. I've never scored a coffee for a dollar in Texas even in the shadiest of gas stations. The breadth of options in NYC is insane, especially when you realize that while gas prices are more in Texas, you don't pay for gas at all in NYC! Of course if you're in the burbs that changes, but it's still arguable that you can live fairly modestly in NYC especially if you're single.