10,157 tax returns (18,390 people including dependents) moved from Oklahoma to Texas in the 2022-2023 IRS migration year, carrying $667,452,000 in adjusted gross income.
Oklahoma to Austin is the quietest of the top ten routes and the one most likely to feel easy on arrival. Eighteen thousand people. The climate is almost the same, the politics are almost the same, the food is almost the same, and the cost of living is meaningfully higher in Austin than in OKC or Tulsa. Which means the movers are almost always moving for a specific job.
Why this move happens
Jobs. Specifically, UT-adjacent research, energy-industry moves, and startup-operator transfers. Oklahoma does have a state income tax, 4.5% on the relevant bracket, which puts about $6,800 a year back in a $150K Austin household pocket. But the housing cost delta runs heavily in Oklahoma's favor, so the net money often does not. The career opportunity has to do most of the work.
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: Oklahoma vs. Austin, TX
Annual line items, $150K household, $450K home, one car. State averages, not quotes.
| Line item | Oklahoma | Austin, TX | Delta | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State + local income tax | $6,750 | $0 | $-6,750 | $150K household. Texas has no income tax. |
| Property tax | $3,825 | $8,100 | +$4,275 | $450K home. Effective rate 0.85% vs 1.80%. |
| Homeowners + auto insurance | $7,343 | $6,684 | $-659 | State-average full-coverage auto plus HO3 homeowners. |
| Utilities (electric + gas + water) | $3,360 | $3,540 | +$180 | Monthly average multiplied by 12. |
| Sales tax (on $28K taxable spend) | $2,492 | $2,296 | $-196 | Combined state plus average local. |
| Annual total (these lines only) | $23,770 | $20,620 | $-3,150 |
On these five lines, the Austin move runs $3,150 cheaper per year than staying in Oklahoma. That ignores housing cost and a dozen smaller lines like HOA, childcare, and groceries.
Two warnings. Cheaper is not the same as "solves your problems." Most people who leave Austin in year two cite non-financial reasons. And Texas property tax compounds: on a house that appraises up for five straight years, your annual bill will not look like the closing document.
Housing: what Oklahoma money actually buys
Oklahoma is one of the last remaining affordable mid-sized markets in the Southwest, and Austin is not. The sticker-price delta is real and the carrying cost compounds it. On a ten-year hold, Oklahoma runs roughly $150K cheaper on a comparable house before you price the income-tax savings back in. Do the honest math, not the brochure math.
Where Oklahoma movers land professionally
The OU and OSU alumni networks in Austin are sizable and active. The Sooner Club and the Cowboy Club both meet for football. Use them as on-ramps.
Common landing employers for Oklahoma movers
- Energy sector via ExxonMobil, BP Austin, and the Tesla battery orbit
- UT research and state government
- Dell
- Austin-based consultancies with OKC and Tulsa outposts
- Oracle
Climate shock: what changes when you leave Oklahoma
Summer high average in Oklahoma: 93°F. In Austin: 96°F. Winter low: 29° vs. 42°. Annual snowfall: 7" vs. 0.6".
Oklahoma is very similar to Austin. 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.
Oklahoma and Austin share a climate. Summer heat is indistinguishable. Ice storms land in both states. Austin is slightly milder in winter and slightly more humid in July. The adjustment is so minimal that most Oklahoma movers do not notice the weather at all for the first six months.
Things Oklahoma movers do not expect
- Austin is more expensive than you remember from your last visit. Assume 40% higher on rent, 60% higher on a comparable house, and 20% higher on groceries.
- The Mexican food step up is real and immediate. Oklahoma Tex-Mex is a thinner product than Austin's.
- The political register is the same at the state level and different at the metro level. Austin is a blue city in a red state. OKC and Tulsa are purple cities in a red state. Small delta, real effect on daily life.
- The weather is almost identical. Summer heat is the same. Tornado risk is lower in Austin. Ice storms are about equal.
- The music scene is deeper in Austin by an order of magnitude. Red Dirt country still ports. Everything else is new.
The social rebuild
Oklahoma movers assimilate fast because the cultural manners port cleanly. The friendliness, the tipping, the pacing all translate. The main friction is scale. Austin is bigger than OKC and meaningfully more traffic-bound.
The regret pattern, if it comes
The Oklahoma regret is almost always about cost of living. Oklahoma families who move to Austin for a specific job and then lose that job inside eighteen months usually go back. The movers who stay are the ones whose jobs held.
Return flow context
In the same year, 21,762 people moved from Texas back to Oklahoma. Roughly one person goes the other way for every 1 who make your move. That is the flow you are joining.
Return flow from Austin to Oklahoma is real and mostly cost-driven. The movers who go back tend to do so within the first three years, often tied to a job loss or a cost-of-living reassessment.
Five things a Oklahoma transplant wishes someone had told them
- The property-tax delta is larger than it looks on paper. Austin is 2.1%. Oklahoma is about 1.0%. That math keeps compounding.
- OU and Texas football. Know the rivalry. Pick a bar for the Red River Shootout in year one.
- Austin groceries are 20% more. Not a joke. Budget for it.
- Tornado sirens are less common in Austin but you are still in tornado alley. Know where your shelter is.
- The OKC-to-Austin drive is 6.5 hours. The flight is 1.5 hours. Pick your lane.
The Oklahoma to Austin move, in four lines
- Volume. 18,390 people in a single tax year. This is a measurable wave.
- Net annual delta on five lines. $3,150 less per year for a $150K household. Housing is separate and usually larger.
- Climate. Summer is +3°F hotter than Oklahoma on average.
- Timeline. Eighteen to twenty-four months to feeling at home. Year one is mostly logistics.