Austin Homes Cost About Double What Houston Homes Do
Start with the arithmetic before the boxes. A typical Austin home sells for $512,700 and a typical Houston home for $253,400, which puts Austin 102% higher. Selling a Houston house and buying a comparable one in Austin will almost never be an even swap, so the planning question is what you are willing to give up: space, a yard, a garage, or a shorter commute.
Sit down with a lender before you list, not after. What Austin will let you borrow on your income decides whether you buy, rent first, or downsize on arrival. Renting in Austin for a season is one way to learn the area before committing to a part of it.
That choice shapes what you move. A smaller Austin home means a harder look at furniture, garage clutter and the second guest room. Sell or donate in Houston whatever will not fit, and store only what you have a firm plan to use. Paying to move and then store a pile of items you never unpack is the surest way for a downsizing move to get expensive.
The Paycheck Stays Put, the Housing Bill Does Not
Texas has no state income tax, so your take-home pay does not change the day you cross from one county to the next. Median household income does rise, though: $91,461 in Austin against $62,894 in Houston, a difference of $28,567 a year. That is a good reason for this move to make sense, but the housing gap is far larger than the income gap, so the extra pay stretches less than the comparison first suggests.
The federal price index for 2024 shows why housing is the number to watch. With the U.S. at 100, the Austin area scores 98 and the Houston area 99, so overall prices are about level between the two. Whatever you feel in your budget after the move comes from housing, not from the rest of the basket.
If a job offer is behind your move, ask whether the salary was set with Austin housing in mind. If you are moving without a new job, set Houston income beside Austin housing in a budget for your first year before you sign anything. It is far easier to adjust a plan on paper than after a lease is signed or a truck is booked.
The Rent Jump: $1,313 to $1,655 a Month
A typical Houston rent of $1,313 becomes $1,655 in Austin, an increase of 26%, or about $342 every month. Over a twelve-month lease that is a meaningful sum, and worth knowing before you fall for a listing.
Three steps follow from that:
- Hold off on giving Houston notice until you have an Austin lease in hand.
- Line up the end of your Houston lease with your Austin start date, so you are not paying twice for the same month.
- Ask Austin landlords about the elevator, loading area and parking before you sign. Moving day depends on them, as the section on buildings explains below.
Two Cities, Two Sizes: Houston's 2.3 Million and Austin's 967,862
Houston has 2,300,419 residents; Austin has 967,862, well under half as many. For the practical side of the move, ask for estimates from companies in both cities. You can look through movers in Houston and movers in Austin side by side, and a company in either may serve the whole route.
Smaller does not mean simpler. You will be learning a new set of services, from doctors to utility accounts, and the paperwork of settling in takes a few weeks.
Two more figures belong in your plan. About 21% of Austin residents changed address in the last year, against 17% in Houston, so ask early about move dates and listings. And renting is the larger group in both cities: 56% of Austin households rent, 58% in Houston. If you are renting now and expect to keep renting, you are moving between two cities with a similar rental footprint, only at a higher price.
If you own in Houston and are heading to a rental in Austin, plan a bigger sort-out of belongings than usual. Check what the landlord allows you to do to the unit, and price storage for anything you cannot place before you commit to keeping it.
Where to Land in Austin
Austin packs a lot of neighborhood variety into a smaller footprint. Here is a practical breakdown:
- Downtown and East Austin: urban and walkable, with higher rents. East Austin in particular has seen fast growth in restaurants and bars.
- South Congress (SoCo) and South Lamar: the center of Austin's creative scene, bikeable and close to Barton Springs. Housing is tight, but the lifestyle is the draw.
- Mueller: a master-planned redevelopment of the old airport site, with schools, walkable design and a strong community feel.
- Round Rock, Cedar Park and Pflugerville: north and northeast suburbs with more square footage per dollar, newer construction and strong school districts. You will be on I-35, so test the commute before you pick.
- Westlake and Bee Cave: upscale western suburbs near the Hill Country with top-rated schools. They cost more, and they are the closest match if you are leaving River Oaks or Memorial.
Traffic is different in Austin, not automatically better. Houston's sprawl means long commutes in every direction, while Austin's growth has outpaced its roads and I-35 through the city is congested. Research your commute route before choosing a neighborhood.
The Building at Each End Decides How Moving Day Goes
The two cities have a nearly identical mix of homes. In Austin, 42% of homes are in apartment-style buildings of five or more units and 44% are detached houses; in Houston those figures are 44% and 43%. A move between them could be house to house, apartment to apartment, or a swap from one to the other.
The type of home matters more than the city. Each brings its own problems:
- Apartment or condo: reserve the elevator if there is one, ask where a truck can park, and find out whether there is a loading dock or a set window for moves. Ask whether the building limits move-in hours or wants a certificate of insurance from your mover.
- Detached house: think about the driveway, steps, narrow doors and how far the truck must park from the front door. Tell your mover about every set of stairs when they give you the estimate.
- Mixed move: if you leave a house and arrive at an apartment, the delivery is the hard end. Everything goes through the elevator or up stairs in a limited window, which can mean more time and more labor.
Schedule the elevator and parking for the day you load and again for the day you unload. A truck that cannot get close adds hours. Tell every mover exactly which of these situations you face at both ends.
What Goes Into the Price of a Houston-to-Austin Move
Both cities are in Texas, so this is an in-state move regulated by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV), not by federal interstate rules. Pricing is based on the weight or volume of your shipment plus labor hours, not on mileage alone. The price range at the top of this page shows what to expect; these are the things that move your own number within it:
- Access at both ends: stairs, long carries, elevators and parking, as covered above, are a major driver of the final price.
- Packing: full packing by the crew is an added service, so decide early whether you want it.
- Specialty items: pianos, gun safes, large art pieces and pool tables carry surcharges.
- Storage: if your Austin home is not ready on move-in day, short-term storage adds to the total.
- Timing: ask each mover for a loading window instead of a vague date, and start asking early.
Texas Rules for a Move Within the State
These are the points that apply between Houston and Austin:
- Before loading starts in Houston, your mover has to hand you a written proposal, and it has to be either binding or not-to-exceed. Read which one it is. A binding proposal locks the price to the inventory you agreed on.
- What the mover owes you for a damaged item is whatever the two of you agree to in writing. The contract can set it as low as nothing, and 60 cents per pound is a common example, so read that line before you sign and ask what a higher level costs.
- A claim for damage has to be made within 90 days.
- For anything else, check with TxDMV, which regulates household movers in the state.
Heat, Hurricanes and the February 2021 Ice Storm
Weather changes character between these two cities, and it can decide your load-out date.
- Houston heat: summers are brutally hot and humid. Living on the Gulf side of the state also brings hurricane and flooding risk, so a late-summer or early-fall load-out can be disrupted by a storm. Gulf hurricanes and catastrophic flooding, as with Harvey, are Houston's biggest threats.
- Austin heat: summers are long, extremely hot and dry, regularly topping 100 degrees for weeks. The dry heat can feel more manageable than Houston's humidity until July, when 105 degrees is still 105.
- Austin storms: Austin has essentially no hurricane risk, but spring brings severe thunderstorms and meaningful tornado exposure.
- Austin winters: the February 2021 ice storm cut power for days, froze pipes across the city and closed roads. It is not an annual event, but it happens. If you are buying, have a plumber evaluate the pipe insulation; if you are renting, ask about emergency heating backup.
Spring and fall are the gentler windows on paper. Whatever the season, plan a buffer day, and keep valuables, medications and documents with you rather than on the truck.
Five Checks Before You Book a Mover for This Corridor
Work through these in order:
- Get at least three binding or not-to-exceed estimates, each after a walk-through of your home in person or on video. A company that quotes over the phone without reviewing your inventory is guessing.
- Confirm the TxDMV registration. Movers operating in Texas must be registered with TxDMV, so ask for the number and look it up.
- Read recent reviews for patterns. Damaged items, surprise charges and no-shows are the red flags, and a pattern in the last 12 months matters more than a single complaint.
- Ask how your belongings reach Austin. Even on a trip this short, a company may combine loads, so ask whether your items go straight to Austin or ride with another shipment, and have the delivery window written down.
- Get the liability terms and any added cost in writing before you sign.
Compare the same items in each quote: access at both ends, packing, and extra charges for stairs or long carries. You can compare options through find movers, or browse by state if you are weighing other Texas cities. Put every promise in writing, and keep the paperwork until your belongings are unpacked.
Our team has 35+ years of hands-on service-provider experience, including an operator who ran a moving company for 18 years.
Houston-to-Austin Questions, Answered
Do I need a new driver license when I move from Houston to Austin?
No, your Texas license stays valid. You do need to update your address with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) within 30 days of the move, and your vehicle registration should reflect your new Austin-area county.
Does a move across Texas fall under the federal rules?
No. Houston and Austin are both in Texas, so the state rules above apply, with TxDMV as the regulator. Before loading you receive a written proposal, binding or not-to-exceed, so the quotes you collect should be comparable item by item.
What if the Austin place is not ready when the truck arrives?
Tell every mover before they quote, because short-term storage adds to the total and changes the plan for delivery day. The easier fix is to line up your Houston lease end with your Austin start date, as described in the rent section.
How do I choose between a Houston mover and an Austin mover?
Ask both for a written estimate after they see your home, and compare them side by side. Start with movers in Houston for the loading end and movers in Austin for the delivery end. Ask each to say which kind of estimate it is giving you, and what it assumes about the elevator, stairs and parking at both ends.