Texas Cities Drawing the Most Movers
Why Texas keeps drawing the most movers
Texas led the nation in net inbound migration through 2025 by a wide margin — adding roughly 470,000 net new residents annually. The pull combines the obvious (no state income tax, business-friendly regulation, climate that supports year-round outdoor living) with the under-reported (some of the country's fastest-growing tech hubs outside coastal California, and a still-meaningful affordability gap versus Austin's national headlines). The catch is property tax, hurricane risk in coastal regions, summer heat, and an electric grid whose reliability remains a live question.
This guide ranks 9 Texas cities for new movers, weighting migration data, infrastructure quality, cost trends, and lifestyle fit. The picks span four metros and five smaller cities. Read our Texas destination guide for the full state context.
Property tax is to Texas what insurance is to Florida: the cost item most often missed by movers chasing income-tax savings.
How we ranked these cities
Each Texas pick is evaluated against four axes: cost (mortgage, property tax, utilities, groceries — note Texas property tax is among the highest in the US), climate (heat exposure, hurricane probability in coastal cities, freeze events like the 2021 storm), infrastructure (electric grid reliability, internet quality, traffic patterns), and economic momentum (job growth, business relocations, talent inflow). We pull migration data from US Census, property tax records from county appraisal districts, and grid reliability from ERCOT.
Editors visited each city personally during 2025 and interviewed recent movers in every pick. We rank based on long-term livability, not just one-year migration spikes.
What this guide doesn't cover
This is a primary-residence relocation guide for full-time Texas movers. We have not analyzed pure investment property strategy, vacation-rental yield in resort areas, or border-region economics. We've also intentionally excluded Austin from our top picks — not because it isn't worth living in, but because Austin's national press coverage already saturates the conversation, and our scope is the cities most movers should consider instead.
If you're researching pure tax-domicile arbitrage, snowbird arrangements, or second-home strategy, you'll get better answers from our destination coverage. We rank Texas for residents who actually live in Texas year-round.
The 9 ranked Texas cities
We group the picks into three audience profiles: big-metro movers wanting full urban infrastructure, mid-sized city movers wanting lower cost and quieter pace, and small-city movers prioritizing access to nature plus distance from urban density.
Top picks for big-metro movers
- Dallas-Fort Worth — fastest-growing major US metro, business hub, full airport access via DFW
- Houston — most diverse major US metro, energy and medical sector employment, hurricane exposure priced in
- San Antonio — lower cost than Austin, military-tech corridor, cultural depth
Top picks for mid-sized city movers
- Frisco — North Dallas exurb, top-rated schools, corporate relocation magnet
- Round Rock — Austin metro at non-Austin pricing, Dell ecosystem, family-oriented
- McKinney — DFW edge, historic downtown, school district premium
Top picks for small-city movers
- Fredericksburg — Hill Country wine region, walkable historic center, retiree-and-remote mix
- New Braunfels — between Austin and San Antonio, river access, fast-growing
- Tyler — East Texas, pine-forest setting, low cost, surprisingly strong medical
Frequently asked questions
Does Texas property tax really erase the no-state-income-tax savings?
For higher-income earners, no — the math still favors Texas significantly. For middle-income earners with expensive homes, the gap narrows considerably. Texas property tax rates run 1.6-2.5% of assessed value depending on county, compared to 0.5-1.5% in many other states. Run the full math on a specific address before assuming the savings are guaranteed.
Is the electric grid still a concern after the 2021 storm?
Yes, though improving. ERCOT has hardened generation capacity and weatherized equipment since 2021. Summer demand peaks remain tight, but the catastrophic February 2021 failure mode has been substantially mitigated. Backup power (whole-home generators, battery systems) is standard equipment in new construction across most picks.
How bad is the summer heat for outdoor work?
Brutal between mid-June and mid-September in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and parts of the Hill Country. Outdoor activity windows compress to early morning and evening. Most remote workers in our picks treat May, October, and the winter months as outdoor seasons and stay indoors with AC during peak summer. Energy bills spike accordingly.
Should I avoid coastal cities because of hurricanes?
Coastal Texas (Galveston, Corpus Christi) sees real hurricane risk and rising insurance costs. Houston has Gulf-storm exposure even though it's inland. Dallas and most of central Texas have effectively zero hurricane risk. Pick based on your risk tolerance and insurance budget.
Texas property tax is the most important number to research before moving. Get it right and the migration math works. Get it wrong and you'll feel it monthly.
Nine Texas cities ranked by 2024–25 U-Haul migration data, IRS county-to-county migration filings, and net residential building permit activity. Cost of living, climate trade-offs, and the actual draw for movers are noted for each. Updated January 2026.
