10,897 tax returns (19,575 people including dependents) moved from Georgia to Texas in the 2022-2023 IRS migration year, carrying $748,318,000 in adjusted gross income.
Georgia to Austin is the move that looks lateral on a map and turns out to be lateral on the money too. Nineteen thousand people, almost all from Atlanta and the inner suburbs. This is the only top-ten route where the climate shock is minimal and the cost math is genuinely close to a wash. Which means the movers are moving for something other than weather or taxes.
Why this move happens
Career, usually. The Atlanta-to-Austin tech and media pipeline is real, and the no-state-income-tax advantage is worth about $6,800 a year for a $150K household coming off Georgia's 4.5% effective rate. The delta is smaller than the California or New York pitch, but it is not nothing, and when layered onto an Austin offer that beats the Atlanta equivalent, the move books. The other group is HBCU alumni moving for community reasons and specific employers, which is a much quieter pattern than the generic tech-migration story.
The math below is built for a typical two-person, one-house, one-car household clearing $150,000 gross. Your line items will move around. The Austin guide has a calculator you can run with your actual numbers; this page is the context the calculator cannot give you.
The money: Georgia vs. Austin, TX
Annual line items, $150K household, $450K home, one car. State averages, not quotes.
| Line item | Georgia | Austin, TX | Delta | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State + local income tax | $6,750 | $0 | $-6,750 | $150K household. Texas has no income tax. |
| Property tax | $3,735 | $8,100 | +$4,365 | $450K home. Effective rate 0.83% vs 1.80%. |
| Homeowners + auto insurance | $4,075 | $6,684 | +$2,609 | State-average full-coverage auto plus HO3 homeowners. |
| Utilities (electric + gas + water) | $3,600 | $3,540 | $-60 | Monthly average multiplied by 12. |
| Sales tax (on $28K taxable spend) | $2,066 | $2,296 | +$230 | Combined state plus average local. |
| Annual total (these lines only) | $20,226 | $20,620 | +$394 |
On these five lines, the Austin move runs $394 more expensive per year than staying in Georgia. That ignores housing cost and a dozen smaller lines like HOA, childcare, and groceries.
If the five-line math does not land in your favor, the case for this move has to be made on housing cost, career opportunity, or lifestyle fit. Not taxes.
Housing: what Georgia money actually buys
Atlanta is cheaper to own in on a comparable central-neighborhood house. The Georgia property tax rate is half of Austin's. The sticker-price delta closes most of that, but the carrying cost over a ten-year hold still runs in Atlanta's favor. Austin movers from Georgia who underwrite honestly tend to rent for the first year.
Where Georgia movers land professionally
The Atlanta-to-Austin technical media and film pipeline is underrated. Austin has a real production economy and it has been absorbing Atlanta crew talent quietly for a decade, especially around streaming and commercial work.
Common landing employers for Georgia movers
- Meta
- Oracle
- Tesla
- media and production transfers via Austin Film Commission work
- UT-adjacent research and government roles
Climate shock: what changes when you leave Georgia
Summer high average in Georgia: 89°F. In Austin: 96°F. Winter low: 34° vs. 42°. Annual snowfall: 1" vs. 0.6".
Georgia is humid summer and mild winter. Austin is 100+ days above 90F. Winter mild but ice storms 1-2x/decade.. Visit in August before you sign anything, not in March when the weather is flattering the city.
Georgia and Austin are nearly indistinguishable May through September. Georgia is greener. Austin is drier. The pollen patterns are different. Austin cedar fever in January and February is a real medical event that Georgia does not have an equivalent for.
Things Georgia movers do not expect
- The weather is almost the same. Expect near-identical summer misery and a slightly milder Austin winter.
- The traffic is better in Austin. I-35 is bad. I-285 is worse. Do the test drive before you decide this doesn't matter.
- The Black cultural and institutional density is lower in Austin than in Atlanta. This matters more than the cost math for some movers. Austin has communities and they are strong, but they are smaller and more scattered.
- The food scene is different. Austin barbecue is among the country's best. Atlanta barbecue is competitive. Austin Southern soul food is thin. That is a real loss for Georgia movers.
- The college sports register is different. UT football is a religion. Georgia football is a religion. They do not conflict. The registration is the main adjustment.
The social rebuild
Atlanta movers assimilate quickly because Southern pacing and manners port cleanly. The Austin friendly-but-scheduled pattern reads as familiar. The main friction is church, which in Atlanta is a primary social structure and in Austin is a secondary one outside specific communities.
The regret pattern, if it comes
The Georgia regret tends to be about cultural density and extended family proximity. The financial case is modest. The career case is often real. The lifestyle case is a wash. If the move does not make sense on the job, it usually does not make sense at all for Georgia transplants.
Return flow context
In the same year, 16,796 people moved from Texas back to Georgia. Roughly one person goes the other way for every 1 who make your move. That is the flow you are joining.
Return flow to Georgia is small but sticky. The movers who go back almost always cite family proximity as the primary reason, not Austin dissatisfaction.
Five things a Georgia transplant wishes someone had told them
- The Austin cedar fever season is January through February. If you have never had it, you will get it. Budget for antihistamines and consider an HVAC with real filtration.
- The state-income-tax savings are real but smaller than the California brochures suggest. Run your exact number.
- Austin's HBCU community is smaller than Atlanta's. Huston-Tillotson is a jewel but it is not Morehouse or Spelman. Factor that.
- The Atlanta-to-Austin flight is a 2-hour direct. Cheap if booked early. Use it more than you think you will.
- The barbecue loss in cornbread, collards, and macaroni is real. Find your soul-food spot in East Austin by month three.
The Georgia to Austin move, in four lines
- Volume. 19,575 people in a single tax year. This is a measurable wave.
- Net annual delta on five lines. $394 more per year for a $150K household. Housing is separate and usually larger.
- Climate. Summer is +7°F hotter than Georgia on average.
- Timeline. Eighteen to twenty-four months to feeling at home. Year one is mostly logistics.