Moving to Texas

Quick facts

Texas pairs a constitutional ban on state personal income tax -- adopted by voters in 2019, not just current policy -- with property taxes that run among the highest in the country, so the 'no income tax' headline is only half the tax picture. The other defining fact about relocating to Texas is that there is no single 'Texas' when it comes to either climate or insurance risk: the state is large enough to contain a hurricane-exposed, humid subtropical Gulf Coast (Houston), a hail-and-tornado-prone North Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth), a semi-arid and wildfire-exposed West Texas, and a colder-winter Panhandle, each with materially different weather and materially different homeowners insurance costs. Anyone evaluating a move to Texas needs to pick a region, not just a state, before the tax and insurance math means anything concrete.

Explore Texas in depth

• Moving to Texas
• Cost of Living in Texas
• Housing Market in Texas
• Buying a Home in Texas
• Renting in Texas
• Property Taxes in Texas
• Income Taxes in Texas
• Sales Tax in Texas
• Homeowners Insurance in Texas
• Flood & Hurricane Risk in Texas
• Hurricane Preparedness in Texas
• Climate & Weather in Texas
• Jobs & Economy in Texas
• Schools in Texas
• Colleges & Universities in Texas
• Crime & Safety in Texas
• Healthcare in Texas
• Traffic & Transportation in Texas
• Airports & Getting Around Texas
• Best Places to Live in Texas
• Best Places to Retire in Texas
• A Guide to Texas's Regions
• Pros and Cons of Living in Texas
• Who Should Move to Texas?
• Who Should NOT Move to Texas?
• Retiring in Texas
• Retirement Communities in Texas
• Living in Texas for Families
• Living in Texas for Remote Workers
• Texas for College Students
• Snowbird Living in Texas
• Military Relocation to Texas
• Beaches & Coastal Living in Texas
• Utilities & Everyday Costs in Texas

The tradeoffs

Taxes

Texas levies no state income tax (Texas Constitution, Art. VIII, Sec. 24-a (added by 2019 Proposition 4)). The statewide average effective property tax rate is 1.60%, though this varies significantly by county (a verified county-level low/high range is not yet sourced). The median annual property tax bill statewide is $4,111.

Insurance

Texas homeowners insurance cannot be honestly summarized as one statewide number -- the state has three distinct major perils (Gulf Coast hurricane/flood, DFW-area hail/tornado, West/Hill Country wildfire) that price very differently by region. The ~$4,350/yr statewide average cited by 2026 sources is a real figure but understates what Houston or DFW homeowners actually pay; see regionalNotes. A verified low-end (rural, low-risk) figure was not found and is left null rather than estimated.

Regions of Texas

• DFW Metroplex
• Greater Houston
• Austin & the Hill Country
• Greater San Antonio
• West Texas
• Coastal Bend
• Rio Grande Valley & South Texas Border
• Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)
• Brazos Valley (College Station)
• East Texas / Piney Woods

Major cities we've researched in Texas

• Houston -- Young professionals in energy, medicine/life sciences, or logistics who want a genuinely deep, diversified job base at a lower price point than the coastal Sun Belt metros, and who are comfortable with real hurricane/flood exposure as a tradeoff.
• Dallas -- Young professionals in finance, corporate management, or telecom who want the deepest Fortune 500 HQ concentration in North Texas and a genuine urban core, and who are comfortable budgeting for above-average homeowners insurance as the tradeoff for hail exposure.
• Fort Worth -- Affordability-focused buyers and young professionals in aerospace, defense, logistics, or transportation who want DFW-metro job access and airport connectivity at a lower price point than Dallas proper, plus a genuine, walkable arts/cultural identity of Fort Worth's own.
• Austin -- Young professionals in or targeting tech, semiconductor, or adjacent industries, and buyers who want dense urban/college-town culture with real job-market depth beyond a single employer.
• San Antonio -- Military families and retirees relocating near Joint Base San Antonio, and affordability-focused buyers who want a major Texas metro without Austin- or Dallas-level home prices.
• El Paso -- Military families and retirees relocating near Fort Bliss, affordability-focused buyers, and anyone specifically drawn to a binational border-city identity and high-desert climate distinct from the rest of Texas.
• The Woodlands -- Families and professionals working at or near the ExxonMobil/Chevron Phillips corporate campuses who want a walkable, forested master-planned environment and can afford the highest price point in this batch.
• Sugar Land -- Families and professionals who want an affluent, master-planned suburb with genuine, well-documented ethnic diversity and strong schools, and who can afford a price point above the Houston-area median.
• Katy -- Families prioritizing top-rated public schools and the most affordable median home price in this batch, who don't mind researching which specific county a given address falls in.
• Pearland -- Affordability-focused families who want an A-rated school district and newer suburban housing south of Houston at a lower price point than Sugar Land or The Woodlands.
• League City -- Families and NASA/aerospace-adjacent professionals who want genuine bay/Clear Lake proximity and a highly rated school district, without paying for actual beachfront property.
• Conroe -- Families wanting lake access and small-town downtown character while still riding Montgomery County's job and population growth.
• Pasadena -- Budget-focused buyers and refinery, petrochemical, or industrial-trades workers who want to live close to Ship Channel employment at the lowest price point among these five Houston satellites.
• Baytown -- Workers in refining or petrochemical trades, or affordability-focused buyers who want genuine bay access without Galveston's beach-town price premium.
• Missouri City -- Families wanting an established, diverse, amenity-rich master-planned community with more housing-stock variety than a single-developer suburb.
• Spring -- Families and ExxonMobil/HP-area employees wanting an affordable home close to major corporate campuses and The Woodlands' amenities without an incorporated city's cost layer.
• Plano -- Young professionals and families targeting Legacy West-area corporate employers (Toyota, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual) who want an established, amenity-rich DFW suburb.
• Frisco -- Families and buyers with a larger budget who want newer construction and a genuine sports/entertainment identity (Cowboys HQ, PGA of America) rather than Plano's more purely corporate-office character.
• McKinney -- Families who want a genuine historic-downtown identity alongside strong schools and newer housing inventory, without Frisco's top-of-market price point.
• Arlington -- Affordability-focused buyers and families who want a central DFW location and a distinct entertainment/tourism identity without Plano- or Frisco-level home prices.
• Irving -- Young professionals targeting Las Colinas-area corporate employers or frequent-flyer/logistics-adjacent roles who want the most direct DFW Airport access in this batch.
• Denton -- Young professionals, grad students, and remote workers drawn to a genuine college-town culture and live-music scene who are willing to accept a longer commute into Dallas or Fort Worth.
• Southlake -- Luxury buyers and families for whom top-rated schools and safety are the priority and budget is not the primary constraint.
• Allen -- Families prioritizing top-rated public schools and strong youth-sports infrastructure who want a mid-range DFW-suburb price point rather than Southlake's luxury tier.
• Grapevine -- Families and outdoor-recreation-minded buyers who want lake access, a walkable historic downtown, and DFW Airport proximity, and who can absorb a higher price point than Grand Prairie, Denton, or Allen.
• Grand Prairie -- Budget-conscious buyers and logistics/distribution workers who want a central DFW location and airport proximity without Dallas or Fort Worth city-proper prices.
• Mesquite -- Budget-conscious first-time buyers and families who want a short commute into Dallas without Dallas-proper prices.
• Garland -- Families and value-focused buyers who want an established, diverse suburb with lake access at a price below Dallas proper.
• Richardson -- Young professionals in tech, telecom, or corporate roles who want to live close to a real employer cluster and UT Dallas, and can absorb a higher price point than Dallas's other satellite suburbs.
• Round Rock -- Young professionals targeting Dell or the broader Round Rock/Williamson County tech and manufacturing job base, and buyers who want Austin-area access at a real discount to city-proper pricing.
• Cedar Park -- Families prioritizing top-ranked public schools who can absorb the highest home prices in this Austin-satellite batch.
• Georgetown -- Retirees specifically drawn to a large, amenity-rich 55+ community, and buyers who want a genuine historic small-town center rather than a purpose-built suburb downtown.
• Pflugerville -- Affordability-focused buyers and families wanting Austin-area access at the lowest price point in this batch.
• Leander -- Affordability- and value-focused buyers, including first-time homebuyers, who can accept a longer commute into Austin or the northern job corridor in exchange for lower prices and rapid community growth.
• San Marcos -- Buyers drawn to a genuine college-town identity and river/outdoor recreation who want pricing well below Austin proper and don't need a short Austin commute.
• Kyle -- First-time buyers and affordability-focused households willing to trade a longer Austin commute for meaningfully lower home prices and newer housing stock.
• New Braunfels -- Outdoor-recreation-minded buyers who want real river/lake access and a distinct local culture, and families drawn to a growing, amenity-rich small city rather than a purely commuter-driven suburb.
• Boerne -- Buyers who want genuine Hill Country scenery and small-town character and can afford a real premium over the other San Antonio-area satellite towns in this file.
• Schertz -- Military families with a connection to Randolph AFB / JBSA-Randolph, and families wanting an affordable, practical San Antonio-area suburb without a scenic or tourism premium attached to the price.
• Universal City -- Military families specifically prioritizing minimal commute distance to Randolph AFB / JBSA-Randolph and the lowest housing cost among the San Antonio-area satellite cities in this file.
• Corpus Christi -- Military families and retirees connected to NAS Corpus Christi or the Army Depot, beach-and-bay lovers who want genuine Gulf Coast coastal living without Florida-level prices, and affordability-focused buyers who want a real port/energy/military job base at a below-national-median home price.
• College Station -- Families and first-time buyers drawn to a well-regarded, A--rated school district, comparatively affordable housing, low crime, and dramatically below-average homeowners insurance costs relative to the rest of Texas; anyone whose career is tied to Texas A&M, higher education, research/biotech (the Research Valley Biocorridor), or healthcare will find a genuinely strong, growing local job base in those specific fields.
• Cypress -- Young families and first-time or move-up homebuyers who want a specific, amenity-rich master-planned community (Bridgeland and its peers), a well-regarded flagship high school, and a still-affordable price point relative to pricier Houston-area comparators like The Woodlands or Sugar Land.
• Humble -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want a low cost of living, proximity to IAH and Insperity-anchored regional employment, and a solidly-rated (if individually variable) school district, without needing to live inside central Houston.
• Tomball -- Buyers who specifically want a genuine small-town historic core with real incorporation history, strong in-city hospital access, and a more age-diverse, more settled community than a purely new-construction exurb -- including buyers for whom retirement or aging-in-place is a real consideration, given Tomball's genuinely higher senior population share within this batch.
• Friendswood -- Families specifically prioritizing a top-tier Texas school district and willing to commute to the Clear Lake/NASA aerospace corridor or elsewhere in Houston, who can budget realistically for real, repeated flood risk and above-national property taxes in exchange for a safer-than-average, affluent suburb.
• Rosenberg -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want genuine Houston-metro access at a below-market price point, and who are comfortable with a young, fast-growing, still-developing exurb rather than an established, higher-amenity suburb.
• Galveston -- Retirees and snowbirds specifically drawn to a genuine, lower-cost, no-income-tax barrier-island beach lifestyle with real healthcare access (UTMB) and a real historic/tourism district (The Strand); beach lovers who want authentic Gulf-front living rather than bay-adjacent access.
• Rockwall -- Families prioritizing a genuinely lake-adjacent lifestyle and a well-regarded, TEA-A-rated school district within commuting distance of Dallas and the Plano/Richardson job corridor, who are comfortable with a car-dependent suburb and standard DFW hail/tornado exposure.
• Wylie -- Families prioritizing a top-10-in-Texas school district (per Niche) at a more affordable DFW-suburb price point than Frisco, McKinney, or Prosper, within commuting distance of Dallas and the Plano/Richardson job corridor.
• Prosper -- Affluent families prioritizing the most highly resourced school district in this DFW batch (Prosper ISD) and newer, higher-end new-construction housing, who have the budget for the highest median home price in this comparison set and are comfortable with standard DFW hail/tornado exposure.
• Celina -- Families comfortable with an extremely fast-growing, still-actively-building-out new-construction city, prioritizing a more moderate DFW-exurb home price than Prosper while accepting a smaller, still-scaling-up school district than Wylie, Prosper, or Rockwall.
• Lakeway -- Retirees and second-home buyers genuinely drawn to a documented lake-country, golf-and-water lifestyle near Austin, and families prioritizing a top-rated school district and an in-city full-service hospital who can afford a real premium over other Austin-area suburbs.
• Dripping Springs -- Buyers specifically drawn to Dripping Springs's Hill Country wine/spirits and wedding-venue identity and its separately-reputed local school district, who understand this record needs a full follow-up research pass before its specific pricing, population, and safety data can be relied on.
• Buda -- Austin-commute families and outdoor-recreation-minded buyers drawn to Buda's I-35/Hays County positioning and shared Hays CISD schooling with Kyle and Wimberley, who can tolerate a research pass still confirming this market's specific pricing and safety data directly.
• Cibolo -- Military families connected to Randolph AFB / Joint Base San Antonio, and families drawn to an established, growing San Antonio-area suburb with a shared, recently-improving school district (SCUCISD), who can tolerate a research pass still confirming this market's specific pricing and safety data directly.
• Lubbock -- Students, university-affiliated staff/faculty, healthcare workers drawn to the TTUHSC/UMC/Covenant referral-hub role, and agribusiness/logistics workers tied to the South Plains cotton economy who want a real, working mid-sized Texas city rather than a bedroom suburb.
• Amarillo -- Workers in ranching/agriculture, logistics/trucking along the I-40 corridor, and federal/defense employment tied to the Pantex Plant who want a real, working Panhandle regional-hub city with no state income tax.
• Midland -- Oil-and-gas-industry professionals (geology, petroleum engineering, corporate energy roles) and workers directly tied to Permian Basin drilling and production activity who understand and accept the sector's real cyclicality, and who want no state income tax alongside historically strong oilfield-era wages.
• Odessa -- Oilfield-services and blue-collar oil-and-gas workers, and University of Texas Permian Basin-affiliated students/staff, who understand and accept the sector's real cyclicality and want a genuinely more affordable option within the Midland-Odessa metro alongside no state income tax.
• Waco -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want a genuinely distinct college-town identity and a below-national-median cost of living, plus anyone drawn to Baylor University itself (students' families, staff, alumni) or to the Magnolia/Silo District tourism economy specifically.
• Killeen -- Military families connected to Fort Cavazos, and affordability-focused buyers or renters who want genuinely low housing costs with a deep, stable local job base tied to the installation.
• Temple -- Veterans and future retirees prioritizing genuine, verified healthcare access (the only Level I trauma center between Dallas and Austin, plus a major VA hospital), and affordability-focused buyers or first-time homebuyers who want low housing costs, the highest median income of this batch, and below-average homeowners insurance.
• Tyler -- Retirees and healthcare-access-focused buyers drawn to a genuine, data-backed regional medical hub (the only one of the four markets in this batch where the population itself already skews slightly older than the national average), and affordability-focused buyers or first-time homebuyers who want a distinct East Texas identity with real retail and healthcare infrastructure rather than a small isolated town.
• Laredo -- Workers and business owners connected to cross-border trade, trucking, customs brokerage, or logistics; affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want a genuinely low-cost Texas market with no state income tax; TAMIU students, faculty, and staff.
• McAllen -- Retirees and snowbirds drawn to the well-documented Winter Texan seasonal community and its age-55-plus gated developments; healthcare workers and patients connected to DHR Health or the other regional hospital systems; affordability-focused buyers who want a genuinely low-cost Texas market with strong retail and medical infrastructure; cross-border retail and logistics workers.
• Brownsville -- Aerospace, port-logistics, and steel/petroleum workers connected to SpaceX Starbase or the Port of Brownsville; UTRGV students, faculty, and staff; retirees and snowbirds drawn to the documented Winter Texan community and South Padre Island proximity; affordability-focused buyers prioritizing beach access at a genuinely low cost.
• South Padre Island -- Beach-focused buyers seeking a genuine barrier-island resort setting, retirees drawn to warm winters and the established Winter Texan community, and investors comfortable with a vacation-rental/condo-driven market who have budgeted realistically for the real TWIA-plus-homeowners insurance cost stack.
• Port Aransas -- Beach and fishing enthusiasts drawn to a genuine, branding-worthy Gulf Coast angling identity, retirees comfortable with a small-town, tourism-driven economy and warm winters, and buyers who value the town's distinctive ferry-access character over a conventional causeway-only barrier-island town.
• Rockport -- Retirees and outdoor/nature enthusiasts drawn to genuine fishing and birding tourism (particularly the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge's whooping crane population) in an affordable, small-town Gulf Coast setting, and affordability-focused buyers comfortable with real, disclosed direct-hurricane-landfall risk.
• Texas City -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers seeking genuine, well-paying industrial/technical employment access on Galveston Bay at a below-national-median home price, and anyone specifically drawn to the working-industrial-waterfront-plus-fishing-pier identity rather than a beach-resort one.
• Granbury -- Retirees and affordability-focused buyers drawn to a genuine, historically distinctive small-town core with real lake access, at a below-national-median home price and no state income tax.
• Wimberley -- Retirees and small-town/arts-community buyers with the budget for genuinely above-national-median housing, who will do the specific due diligence on a property's flood zone, elevation, and insurance requirements before buying.
• Canyon Lake -- Retirees and outdoor-recreation-focused buyers who want a real, federally engineered lake amenity and relatively affluent, low-property-tax community within a short commute of New Braunfels, and who will do the specific due diligence on flood-zone status for any riverside or low-lying property given real regional flash-flood risk.
• Marble Falls -- Affordability-focused buyers who want genuine Hill Country lake-town character and a real regional job/commercial base, without the resort-level cost structure of neighboring Horseshoe Bay.
• Horseshoe Bay -- Retirees and luxury/second-home buyers specifically seeking a gated, amenity-rich golf-and-lake resort community, who are prepared for genuine per-neighborhood HOA due diligence and a real cost premium over neighboring Hill Country towns.
• Wichita Falls -- Military families connected to Sheppard AFB and ENJJPT, and affordability-focused first-time homebuyers who want genuinely low housing costs and no state income tax in a North Texas regional hub.
• San Angelo -- Military families connected to Goodfellow AFB, college-town seekers drawn to Angelo State University's genuine, growing academic community, and affordability-focused buyers who want a distinct West Texas regional-hub identity with real ranching heritage.
• Longview -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want a genuine, historically distinct East Texas identity (the real 1930 oil-boom history, not just a nickname) with a real engineering-focused university anchor and no state income tax.
• Beaumont -- Affordability-focused buyers who want a genuine, singular historical identity (the real birthplace of the modern oil industry, not a rebrand) and a deep, real refinery-anchored job base, and who are prepared to plan seriously around real Gulf Coast hurricane exposure.
• Harker Heights -- Military families connected to Fort Cavazos who want newer housing stock and a real income/crime-rate premium over Killeen proper, and families prioritizing affordability relative to the national market alongside a deep, stable, base-anchored job market.
• Bee Cave -- Affluent families prioritizing a top-tier school district (Lake Travis ISD) and Lake Travis-adjacent Hill Country living within easy reach of downtown Austin, and luxury buyers comfortable with a genuinely high-priced housing market in exchange for a low municipal tax rate and strong retail/commercial amenities anchored by the Hill Country Galleria.
• Fair Oaks Ranch -- Affluent families and retirees-adjacent buyers seeking a real, historically distinctive gated golf-community lifestyle with strong, FBI-data-verified safety and access to a highly-rated shared school district (Boerne ISD), within a short commute of San Antonio.
• Edinburg -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want genuinely low housing costs and a cost of living well below the national average, plus anyone connected to UTRGV (faculty, staff, or students' families) who wants to live directly in the city hosting the university's main campus.
• Nacogdoches -- Affordability-focused buyers and first-time homebuyers who want a genuinely low cost of living and no state income tax; small-town-living buyers comfortable with a university-town rhythm (academic-calendar-driven local economy, a large student population) rather than a fully residential small town.
• Kerrville -- Retirees and near-retirees drawn to a genuine, established Hill Country retiree community with real hospital access and a below-average cost of living, and small-town-living buyers who want that setting -- provided they weigh the flash-flood hazard below with full seriousness, particularly for any property near the Guadalupe River, Goat Creek, or other area waterways.
• Fredericksburg -- Retirees and near-retirees drawn to a genuine, established Hill Country retiree community with a distinctive cultural identity (German heritage, wine country, a nationally ranked museum); luxury and second-home/vacation-property buyers who understand and want to participate in the area's substantial short-term-rental market.