Want to live and work in New Braunfels?

New Braunfels was once one of the most affordable cities along the I-35 corridor, but that has changed quickly. Today the cost of living sits near the US national average, roughly 15 to 20 percent below Austin and comparable to San Antonio, which still attracts buyers from the Austin market looking for more space at the same price.

A two-bedroom apartment in a decent area rents in the range of $1,500 to $1,900 per month. A three-bedroom home starts around $350,000 in established neighborhoods, rising above $500,000 in newer developments near the river. Groceries, utilities, and gasoline follow standard Texas patterns, with no major surprises.

Texas levies no state income tax, which benefits take-home pay, but offsets this with high property taxes (around 2 percent of assessed property value per year), an important calculation before purchasing a home. Health insurance and childcare are the largest expenses for young families, as is the case nationwide.

Unlike many cities of its size, New Braunfels does not depend on a single employer. The industrial base is solid: Continental Automotive Systems maintains a large operation, Caterpillar runs an engine plant, Schlitterbahn (the iconic water park) employs thousands during the season, and the McKenna Events Center drives event-based tourism.

Healthcare is the second major pillar, anchored by CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital New Braunfels and Resolute Health Hospital, both serving the city's rapid population growth. Hospitality and retail absorb much of the seasonal workforce in summer, with peaks driven by river tubing and festival tourism.

The defining development of recent years is the growing number of residents who live in New Braunfels but commute to Austin (Tesla, Apple, Oracle, Samsung in Pflugerville/Hutto) or San Antonio (USAA, H-E-B, Valero, military bases). A 50-to-75-minute drive on I-35 has become a standard part of daily life, and remote work options since the pandemic have expanded this pattern further.

The city has two main hospital networks: CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital New Braunfels, part of a regional Catholic system, and Resolute Health Hospital, operated by the Adventist group. Both offer 24-hour emergency care, maternity services, and surgical centers, covering the majority of healthcare needs locally.

Outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, and specialist offices are concentrated along Highway 46 and near the hospital campuses. Family medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics (particularly relevant for a community active in water sports), and cardiology are well represented. Mental health services remain underserved, a pattern common across mid-sized American cities.

For advanced oncology, transplants, complex neurosurgery, or highly specialized pediatric care, the destination is the San Antonio Medical Center (UT Health, Methodist, Christus, Children's Hospital of San Antonio), all accessible within an hour via I-35. Employer-sponsored insurance is the norm; uninsured care carries high out-of-pocket costs, as anywhere in the United States.

I-35 runs through New Braunfels on a north-south axis and serves as the primary artery. Nearly all travel requires a personal vehicle. FM 306, Highway 46, and Loop 337 handle local traffic. Rush-hour congestion on I-35, particularly southbound toward San Antonio in the morning and northbound toward Austin in the afternoon, is the biggest daily frustration, with chronic expansion projects perpetually underway.

Public transit is minimal: Connect New Braunfels operates basic routes within the city, but it is not a practical commuting option for most residents. Van and shuttle services and Greyhound provide connections to Austin, and the CAPS program offers transportation for seniors. There is no commuter rail or metro network.

The nearest commercial airport is San Antonio International (SAT), about 50 minutes away, with solid domestic service and some international connections. Austin-Bergstrom (AUS) is about 75 minutes out and offers wider options, including routes to Europe. New Braunfels Regional Airport (BAZ) serves general aviation only.

Wurstfest, held in November, is the event that defines the city: ten days of polka, oompah music, sausages, pretzels, and vast quantities of beer in a pavilion on the banks of the Comal. It draws around half a million visitors and stands as a source of intense local pride. Year-round, Gruene Hall, a dance hall dating to 1878, hosts country and Americana acts nearly every night.

The dining scene reflects the city's cultural mix: traditional smokehouses (Cooper's, New Braunfels Smokehouse), German bakeries (Naegelin's, the oldest bakery in Texas, founded in 1868), quality Tex-Mex, and a wave of craft breweries (Faust, New Braunfels Brewing). The Friesenhaus and Krause's served classic German cuisine for generations.

Beyond Wurstfest, the calendar includes Folkfest (German heritage, in May), the Comal County Fair (September), the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market in December), and summer tubing season, which has become a rite of passage for Texans. The city maintains small but well-curated museums, including the Sophienburg, dedicated to the history of German settlement.

New Braunfels does not have the large immigrant concentrations found in San Antonio or Houston, but a foreign-born presence exists and is growing. The Mexican community is the largest and oldest, deeply integrated into local life, with Hispanic Catholic churches, specialty grocers (carnicerías), and restaurants throughout the city.

More recently, arrivals from Venezuela, Colombia, and Central America (Honduras, El Salvador) have increased, many fleeing economic or political crises and working in construction, hospitality, and services. Indian and Filipino families have arrived through healthcare recruitment at local hospitals and engineering positions at industrial plants. There is also a smaller but stable presence of Brazilian, Vietnamese, and Chinese residents connected to commerce and restaurants.

For support, most immigrants rely on networks in San Antonio (Catholic Charities, RAICES for immigration legal matters) or Austin. Locally, Comal County Caritas, Catholic parishes, and Christian nonprofits assist with immediate needs. There are no consulates in the city; consular services are available in Houston (the primary Texas hub) or in Dallas and Austin.