Texas Long-Distance Moving Company

Moving costs in Texas depend on whether you're crossing town or crossing the country. Local moves typically run $190-$260 per hour for a two-person crew with a truck. Long-distance moves start at $650 for a studio and reach $6,900 for a large four-plus-bedroom home, depending on distance, weight, and access at both ends.

Local moving rates

Long-distance rates from Texas

Popular routes and pricing from Texas

Pricing reflects market averages for moves in and from Texas as of June 2026. Your final price depends on inventory weight, packing level, access at pickup and delivery, and scheduling flexibility. Call (855) 822-2722 or use our free quote calculator for an exact estimate.

What affects your moving price

• Shipment weight and volume are the biggest factors on any long-distance move from Texas.
• Distance drives the base price. Austin to Houston is 163 miles; Austin to New York is 1,744.
• Access at both ends matters. Freight-elevator windows in Houston and Austin high-rises, gated-community and HOA truck rules in the suburbs, or a long rural Hill Country approach can all add time or call for a shuttle.
• How much packing you want us to do. Full-service runs more than partial, and self-pack is the lowest option.
• When you move. Summer is peak demand, and the June-to-November Gulf hurricane season can disrupt coastal scheduling.
• Add-on services like auto transport, climate-controlled storage, and specialty handling for pianos, gun safes, or artwork carry their own pricing.

A move to Texas involves more than logistics. The state runs on four metro economies spread across a vast interior, so the same budget buys a high-rise condo in Austin or a five-bedroom new build in a Houston suburb, and the drive between two Texas cities can rival a haul to another state. Below is a quick guide covering cost of living, access and logistics, climate and timing, and the residency rules that affect your move.

What it costs to move to Texas

Texas's cost of living index is 97.1 (US average = 100, BEA RPP 2024), just below the national figure, which is part of the draw. Local moving labor runs $190-$260 per hour for a two-person crew, with the big metros at the higher end. Median home value is $283,800 (Census ACS 2020-2024) and median monthly rent is $1,403, while median household income is $78,476. But the line that surprises newcomers is the tax mix, because Texas charges no individual income tax and yet carries one of the highest effective property-tax rates in the country at about 1.40 percent of home value.

Access and logistics

Texas has a dense interstate spine built around the Texas Triangle. I-35 runs north and south from Laredo through San Antonio, Austin, and Waco to Dallas-Fort Worth, while I-10 crosses east and west from El Paso through San Antonio and Houston to the Louisiana line. I-45 links Dallas, Houston, and Galveston, I-20 cuts across West Texas through the Metroplex, and I-30 connects Fort Worth to Texarkana. In downtown Houston, Dallas, and Austin, the hard part is the building, since tower moves need a certificate of insurance, a reserved freight elevator, and a tight street-loading window. Out in the collar counties and the Hill Country, the challenge flips to distance and access, because a single in-state leg can run several hundred miles and a gated subdivision may restrict truck size.

Climate and timing

Texas summers are long and hot, with Dallas July and August highs near 96 and roughly 20 days a year at or above 100, and winters are mild with January lows around 36. Dallas-Fort Worth gets about 37 inches of rain and only 1.6 inches of snow a year, though rare ice storms can briefly close North Texas highways. The headline risks are seasonal: extreme summer heat statewide, Gulf-coast hurricanes and tropical storms from June into November around Houston and the coast, and severe thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes in North Texas, which sits in Tornado Alley. The best window for a move is October through April, when temperatures are mild and the hurricane season has passed. But avoid June through August, when the heat peaks and demand is highest, and plan summer load-outs for early morning.

Residency and regulations

Texas splits driver licensing and vehicle registration between two agencies: the Department of Public Safety (DPS) issues driver licenses, and the Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) handles registration and title. New residents may drive on a valid out-of-state license for up to 90 days, but you must register your vehicle within 30 days. Apply through the TxDMV (txdmv.gov) once you are settled. Texas eliminated the annual safety inspection for non-commercial vehicles on January 1, 2025 under House Bill 3297, replacing it with a small inspection program replacement fee at registration. Seventeen counties around Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and El Paso still require an emissions test, with Bexar County around San Antonio joining on November 1, 2026.

Texas offers a broad, fast-growing job market, no state income tax, and a cost of living just below the national average. But the trade-offs are real: property taxes are among the highest in the country, summers are long and punishingly hot, and the Gulf Coast carries real hurricane risk. Whether it's a good fit depends on how much you value the paycheck math and the job market against high property-tax bills and months of triple-digit heat.

Tax environment

Texas has no individual income tax, which is the headline draw for relocating workers and retirees, and the state ranks first in the nation on the Tax Foundation's individual-income-tax component. The trade-off is property tax, because local school districts, counties, and cities fund their budgets without an income tax, so the effective rate averages about 1.40 percent of home value, among the highest nationally. The average combined state and local sales tax is about 8.19 percent, with a statutory maximum of 8.25 percent, and there is no estate or inheritance tax. Texas also runs a gross-receipts Franchise Tax in place of a traditional corporate income tax, and state and local tax collections come to about $5,737 per capita.

Housing market

Median home value in Texas is $283,800 (Census ACS 2020-2024), well below coastal markets, and median monthly rent is $1,403. Prices vary sharply by metro, from the premium close-in neighborhoods of Austin to far more affordable homes in the collar counties and smaller cities, where the same budget buys much more house. An owner-occupancy rate of 62.6 percent reflects a market where new construction keeps ownership within reach for many families. Because so much growth lands in booming suburbs like Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, and Williamson counties, where you land in the metro matters as much as what you buy.

Job market and economy

Texas runs the second-largest state economy in the country, led by energy. Oil and gas production centered on the Permian Basin anchors ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Phillips 66, while technology and telecom run deep through Texas Instruments, Dell, and AT&T, and the Austin area has drawn major Samsung and Tesla operations. Dallas-Fort Worth adds aviation and finance with American Airlines and a dense corporate base. And San Antonio anchors finance and the military with USAA and several large bases. Because the sector mix spans energy, tech, healthcare, and defense, the job market holds up across cycles, which is a big part of why so many people keep moving in.

Safety and natural risks

Texas faces a wide hazard mix and leads the nation in federal disaster declarations, with NOAA counting 190 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters affecting the state from 1980 to 2024. The Gulf Coast around Houston, Galveston, and Corpus Christi sits in the path of hurricanes and tropical storms, North Texas takes severe thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes, and the whole state has seen flooding, wildfire, drought, and the 2021 winter freeze. If you are buying near the coast or a floodplain, it is worth lining up flood and windstorm coverage early, since standard homeowner policies often exclude both.