Take this into account. People move from places with high cost of living where their 2 bedroom house nets them easily $1mil. They sell that and move to Austin where they can afford a much bigger house. They think they win not paying income tax and then their property tax bill drops and they are paying $16k per year. Enter the flabbergast.

$16k per year in total taxes is very cheap for someone with a $1 million house and the income to support it.

If the house is paid off it can be a lot cheaper to support it than you probably expect.

For example my house is paid off. My total yearly spending comes out to under $25k/year. That omits irregular things like the occasional need to replace a broken appliance, or upgrade to a new computer/phone/tablet/watch, or get a new car.

Looking at how often those irregular things happen and how much they cost, another $7k a year reserved for that would be sufficient, assuming in any years where that is not spent the left over is carried forward.

That's $32k/year income needed to live comfortably in my house. My house is worth a little less than half a million according to Zillow. I'd guess a million dollar house would cost about twice as much to insure, and is bigger so costs more to heat or cool. Assuming 2x insurance and 2x electricity costs would add another $3k, suggesting $35k/year income needed for a million dollar house, at least if my standard of living is acceptable.

It's more nuanced than that. Say someone moves from California where their property taxes were based on the purchase price of the home, they then buy a home in Austin where it based on the property value and they size up. It is a sticker shock of the taxes. Not justifying it, it is just a reality of what happens here.