Head-to-head, from CMS Plan Year 2026 data.
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Utah is the cheaper of the two: a 40-year-old pays about $805/month for the median Silver plan, versus $807 — a difference of $2/month (0%) before subsidies.
| Utah | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Median Silver @40 | $805 | $807 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $559 | $540 |
| Most expensive county @40 | $1,125 | $1,409 |
| Age 27 | $526 | $443 |
| Age 60 | $1,134 | $1,146 |
| Carriers | 6 | 15 |
| Counties | 29 | 254 |
| 1-carrier counties | 1 | 7 |
| Plan types | EPO, HMO | EPO, HMO, POS |
Source: CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits; not a quote or an offer of coverage.
This page sets two states against each other. For county-by-county carriers, plan data and help actually enrolling, I publish a page for each state on Coverage by County: Utah or Texas. There is also a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment periods.
Change the age or income and both states recalculate: the 2027 marketplace price after any tax credit, and the private plan estimate.
| Monthly, age 45, $85,000 | Utah | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace benchmark Silver, full price | $777 | $852 |
| Tax credit | none | none |
| You pay for the benchmark plan | $777 | $852 |
| Private plan estimate (low end: no deductible) | $260–$435 | $375–$475 |
At 45 on $85,000, the benchmark plan costs $906 a year more in Texas than in Utah, at full price in both, since that income is over the tax-credit line.
2027 estimates: KFF 2026 benchmark raised by each state’s average 2027 change, on the federal age curve; 2027 tax credit rules. Your county will differ. Every state at once: what you would pay in each state.
Put your ZIP code in and a licensed agent will show you the carriers filing in your county, what the cheapest plan costs, and what you would actually pay after any help you qualify for. No cost, and you talk to a licensed agent — not a call center.
Moving permanently from Utah to Texas is a qualifying life event, so you get a 60-day special enrollment window counted from the move date — time enough to work through the 15 carriers filing in Texas without waiting for open enrollment. Two conditions trip people up: you generally need to have held qualifying coverage for at least one day in the 60 days before the move, and relocating purely for treatment or a holiday will not qualify.
Nothing transfers. You close the Utah plan and enroll fresh against Texas’s 254 counties, which means a new network and a new price regardless of which insurer you land on.
Some continuity is possible: Molina Healthcare file in both, out of 6 in Utah and 15 in Texas. Same company is easier paperwork, but it is a different plan on a different network at a different price.
Neither state sells a PPO. All 29 Utah counties and all 254 in Texas offer HMO, EPO or POS only, so care outside the network is generally an emergency-only benefit — the binding constraint if you will need routine appointments in both.
Splitting the year does not mean splitting the coverage. You can hold a marketplace plan only in your state of primary residence — the address you file from — not one in Utah and another in Texas. The cost lands on care received in whichever of the two you did not choose.
Neither Utah nor Texas has one price. Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will pull the plans in that county and work out what help you qualify for.
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