Houston homes cost less, so decide what the savings are for
The median home sells for $295,300 in Dallas and $253,400 in Houston. That is 14% lower, and it can change the whole shape of the move. You might buy the same house for less, buy more house for the same money, or carry a smaller mortgage into a bigger city. Make that choice before you book anything: a larger home means more furniture to buy, and a smaller one means more to sell or store.
The wider price picture points the same way. On the federal price index for 2024, the Houston area sits at 99 and the Dallas-Fort Worth area at 103 (the U.S. is 100), so Houston comes in about 4% lower. Neither city has a state income tax, so your paycheck calculation does not change with the move. What changes is how far your housing budget goes.
If you own in Dallas, line up the sale date and the purchase date as closely as you can. Ask your mover about storage-in-transit for any gap, and ask what it costs per month before you need it.
Rent and income: a smaller gap than the home-price gap
Monthly rent runs $1,313 in Houston and $1,403 in Dallas, a difference of 6%. That is about $90 a month. It adds up over a year, but it is not a reason to accept a bad lease just because the number looks lower.
Incomes show the other half. Median household income is $62,894 in Houston and $67,760 in Dallas. If your paycheck follows you, rent and homes in Houston take a smaller bite. If you are changing jobs to make this move, compare the offer against Houston's numbers, not Dallas's.
Match your Houston lease to the date of your truck. A lease that starts a week before the move means a week of rent on an empty place. One that starts after your Dallas lease ends leaves your furniture with nowhere to go.
Picking a Houston area before you collect proposals
Houston has about 2.3 million residents to Dallas's 1.3 million. It is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the country, so "Houston" covers an enormous amount of ground. Settle on an area first, then ask each mover whether it works there regularly and how it handles the buildings you are considering. A few areas worth researching:
- The Heights and Montrose: walkable, with older bungalows and new townhomes.
- Midtown and the Museum District: dense and urban, close to the medical center and the city's cultural institutions.
- Sugar Land and Missouri City: southwest suburbs with strong school districts, newer construction and a lower price per square foot than the inner loop.
- The Woodlands and Spring: master-planned communities north of the city, with a commute into town.
- Katy: west of downtown, with newer homes and schools, at prices still below the inner loop.
Whichever you pick, look into flood history. Houston has had repeated major flooding, and not all of the risk shows up on FEMA flood maps. Ask the seller or landlord directly, and check the Harris County Flood Education Mapping Tool for the address.
Apartment to apartment: what to settle with both buildings
Nearly half the homes in both cities sit in large buildings: 47% in Dallas and 44% in Houston. Detached houses make up 42% in Dallas and 43% in Houston. The two cities are close to mirror images, so the building you leave and the building you arrive at may well be the same type.
An apartment-to-apartment move turns on logistics more than on volume. Ask both buildings about:
- elevator reservations and time windows
- where a large truck can legally and safely stop
- a loading dock or a freight entrance
- any move-in fee or deposit
Tell your mover about every one of those on the survey. A long carry from a distant parking spot, or a stairwell with no elevator, can lengthen the day and with it the bill. Apartments above the third floor without elevator access typically bring a surcharge. House-to-house moves swap these problems for driveways, steps and the size of the truck that fits on your street.
Houston roads and the hour the truck arrives
Houston is spread out and car-dependent, like Dallas. The 610 Loop, Beltway 8 and I-10 are your main orientation points, and traffic on I-45 and I-10 can rival any city in the country at rush hour. Weekday rush hour runs roughly 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., and the area around the 610 Loop and downtown is the heaviest.
Ask your mover for a loading window and a delivery window that stay clear of those hours. Pair that with the heat described below, and an early start on both ends is the practical choice.
Heat, storms and floods at each end
Neither end of this move is gentle in summer. Dallas summers are hot and humid, and Houston summers are extremely hot and humid. Gulf Coast humidity makes Houston's 95°F feel more intense than Dallas's. Book an early start so loading is done before the afternoon, and keep water on hand for the crew and for you. In Houston, a well-maintained A/C system and higher summer electric bills are a practical necessity.
The risks beyond heat differ by city. Dallas sits in Tornado Alley, with severe storm and tornado risk, particularly in spring, and occasional ice storms in winter. A spring or winter loading day in Dallas is worth a conversation with your mover about what happens if the weather turns. Houston faces hurricane risk from the Gulf and is prone to severe flooding. Ask where your belongings will sit if the ground floor floods, and do not leave boxes on the floor of a storage unit.
What Texas requires of your mover
This is an in-state move, so Texas rules apply rather than federal interstate ones. The regulator is TxDMV. In-state Texas movers are required to be registered with TxDMV, so look up any company you are considering in TxDMV's Truck Stop lookup before you sign anything.
Before loading, the mover must give you a written proposal that is either binding or not-to-exceed. A binding proposal locks in the price your mover can charge, even if the weight of your shipment ends up higher than estimated. Liability is whatever you and the mover agree in writing, and it can even be $0 if the contract says so. 60 cents per pound is a common example, so read that line before you sign. If you want more protection than basic coverage, ask what a higher level costs and whether it pays replacement value. Claims must be made within 90 days. For anything beyond that, check with your mover or TxDMV.
Choosing a mover for Dallas to Houston
Cost on this route depends mainly on how much you move, how hard the access is at each building, the day you choose and any storage gap between homes. Packing service, specialty items such as pianos, pool tables, large safes and fine art, and stairs or long carries each add to the total. Ask each mover to price those things separately, and compare the proposals line by line.
Work through these steps:
- Get at least three written proposals, and read the liability terms in each. Ask for an in-person or video walkthrough of your inventory. A quote given over the phone without anyone seeing what you own is a reason to ask more questions.
- Look up the company's TxDMV registration, as described above.
- Read reviews for what they complain about: damage, late arrivals, a price that changed at delivery. Notice whether those complaints cluster in recent months or sit years back.
- Ask who will do the work. A broker may hand your move to a third-party carrier. That is not automatically a problem, but you should know whose truck shows up.
Our page of movers in Dallas covers the pickup end, and movers in Houston suits a Houston-based company that coordinates delivery. For the price range, see the top of this page.
Majestic Moving Companies is a directory, not a mover. Our team has 35+ years of hands-on service-provider experience, including an operator who ran a moving company for 18 years.
We built the directory to make comparing licensed movers simple. Start with find movers, or browse by state to see how Texas movers are listed.
Dallas to Houston questions, answered
Does my driver license change when I move from Dallas to Houston?
No. Both cities are in Texas, so your Texas driver license stays valid. Update your address with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) within 30 days of the move. Also update your vehicle registration address, voter registration, and any employer or financial accounts.
What should I do about a Houston delivery date in hurricane season?
Houston sits within the Gulf Coast hurricane zone, and the season runs June through November. Leave slack in your delivery date and keep a plan for your belongings if a storm moves the day. Know the evacuation routes, which are primarily I-10 West, I-45 North and US-290, and keep a go-bag ready.
What if my Houston delivery window is vague?
Get the window in writing before loading. With a carrier that combines loads from several customers, the window can run from one to several business days rather than a single guaranteed date, so ask about it up front.
Should flood insurance be on my checklist if my Houston lender does not ask for it?
Consider it either way, since FEMA maps do not capture all of the risk. Review your renter's or homeowner's insurance well before storm season arrives, so you know what a flood or hurricane would and would not be covered for.