9,863 tax returns (19,119 people including dependents) moved from Washington to Texas in the 2022-2023 IRS migration year, carrying $1,177,650,000 in adjusted gross income.
Washington to Austin is the second big tech-cohort move Austin gets, and nineteen thousand people run it a year. The Seattle-Austin corridor is tighter than outsiders realize: the same companies on both ends, the same offer letters, the same two-bedroom condos. The weather is the headline and the org chart is the real story.
Why this move happens
Washington has no state income tax, so the tax math actually does not move. What moves is everything around the tax math. Seattle rent has held near the top of the country and the weather is a known cost that eventually prices out a certain personality type. Amazon and Microsoft both have significant Austin presences, and the transfer path is clean. A lot of the Seattle-to-Austin movers are less fleeing and more rotating to a different chapter in the same career.
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: Washington vs. Austin, TX
Annual line items, $150K household, $450K home, one car. State averages, not quotes.
| Line item | Washington | Austin, TX | Delta | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State + local income tax | $0 | $0 | $0 | $150K household. Texas has no income tax. |
| Property tax | $3,420 | $8,100 | +$4,680 | $450K home. Effective rate 0.76% vs 1.80%. |
| Homeowners + auto insurance | $2,652 | $6,684 | +$4,032 | State-average full-coverage auto plus HO3 homeowners. |
| Utilities (electric + gas + water) | $3,720 | $3,540 | $-180 | Monthly average multiplied by 12. |
| Sales tax (on $28K taxable spend) | $2,652 | $2,296 | $-356 | Combined state plus average local. |
| Annual total (these lines only) | $12,444 | $20,620 | +$8,176 |
On these five lines, the Austin move runs $8,176 more expensive per year than staying in Washington. 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 Washington money actually buys
Price per square foot drops. Property tax rate triples. The house is bigger, the yard is a yard, and the annual carrying cost is mostly in Austin's favor after the sun comes out. Seattle movers tend to like the house math and dislike the summer math. Both responses are reasonable.
Where Washington movers land professionally
The Microsoft and Amazon pipelines are explicit and well-trafficked. Both companies move people on request between the metros. If you are in either org chart, use the internal tools. The informal routes are slower and less reliable.
Common landing employers for Washington movers
- Amazon Austin
- Microsoft Austin
- Oracle
- Meta
- battery and cleantech startups via Tesla and Cirba Solutions orbit
Climate shock: what changes when you leave Washington
Summer high average in Washington: 79°F. In Austin: 96°F. Winter low: 37° vs. 42°. Annual snowfall: 5" vs. 0.6".
Washington is grey for nine months and glorious for three. 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.
Seattle summer is short, sunny, and perfect. Austin summer is long, bright, and punishing. Seattle winter is mild, grey, and long. Austin winter is mild, sunny, and short. You are trading seasonal affective loss for a summer fatigue that cannot be underestimated.
Things Washington movers do not expect
- The sun is a presence, not a guest. You will get more vitamin D in one month than a Seattle year. This is mostly good. The burn is the adjustment.
- The social register is friendlier on the surface. Seattle is famous for the Seattle Freeze. Austin smiles first. Whether that friendliness converts to actual friendship is a separate question that takes 18 months to answer.
- The coffee scene step down is real. Austin has good coffee. Seattle has great coffee. The baseline moves.
- The outdoor culture changes register. Seattle is hiking and water and ferry islands. Austin is paddleboarding, spring swimming, and barbecue under a live oak. Different muscles.
- The rain disappears. Your skin will dry out. Your mood may shift in the first six months and it is not a coincidence.
The move was correct for the decision I had to make at thirty-six. I do not yet know if it is correct for the decade after.
Priya Raman · Remote Free Agent · Seattle, WA to Austin
The social rebuild
Seattle movers often arrive with a pre-built Microsoft-or-Amazon friend group already in Austin, which is the single fastest social on-ramp available from any origin state. That is a gift. The risk is staying inside that group and never meeting the rest of the city. Force the exit.
The regret pattern, if it comes
The Seattle regret is almost always about the rain. Transplants miss the grey more than they expected to. A Seattle native who has moved to Austin and stayed for five years has almost universally figured out a way to spend at least one week in the Pacific Northwest every year. It is not optional for the personality type that liked Seattle enough to make it work.
Return flow context
In the same year, 15,695 people moved from Texas back to Washington. Roughly one person goes the other way for every 1 who make your move. That is the flow you are joining.
Return migration from Austin to Seattle is noticeable and almost always tied to a specific life event. A parent health issue, a custody arrangement, or a sudden nostalgia for grey weather that transplants do not predict in advance.
Five things a Washington transplant wishes someone had told them
- Sunscreen is not a summer item in Austin. It is a year-round item. Your Seattle instincts will get you burned in March.
- You do not need an umbrella. You need a cooler, a hat, and a plan for when the power goes out.
- The Texas allergy season starts in January with cedar. Seattle did not prepare you for this.
- Keep your REI membership. The Austin store is real and the gear ports. Replace rain gear with hot-weather gear slowly.
- The flight to Seattle is 4 hours, direct, and one of the most-booked Austin-Bergstrom routes. Use it in August.
The Washington to Austin move, in four lines
- Volume. 19,119 people in a single tax year. This is a measurable wave.
- Net annual delta on five lines. $8,176 more per year for a $150K household. Housing is separate and usually larger.
- Climate. Summer is +17°F hotter than Washington on average.
- Timeline. Eighteen to twenty-four months to feeling at home. Year one is mostly logistics.