The Berbas Group, a luxury real estate group specializing in relocations to Austin from California, New York, Illinois, and Washington, have created this relocation calculator to help you understand the cost of staying where you are versus relocating to Austin, Texas. The Berbas Group has a background in statistical arbitrage, and are well-known in Austin, Texas for not just being lifestyle realtors, but rather asset managers with a data-driven, white-glove real estate servic

Short answer: For a high earner, the financial case for leaving California for Texas is driven almost entirely by income and capital-gains taxes, not by the price of the house. California's top rate is 13.3% and it applies to both your income and your capital gains. Texas has no state income tax and no capital-gains tax at all. For someone earning several million a year, that difference is often six figures every single year, which means a multi-million-dollar Austin home

Starting in 2028, Washington will tax household income over $1 million at 9.9%, its first broad tax on high earners in a state that built its whole appeal on not having one. But for a high earner, the cost of staying is not just that annual bill. It is the opportunity cost. Every dollar you hand to the state is a dollar you cannot redeploy into something that grows. Move that capital to a no-income-tax state like Texas, put it into an Austin home that has historically app

At $5 million, you are buying a substantial, beautifully finished home in one of Austin's best neighborhoods, roughly 4,000 to 6,500 square feet with a pool, in Westlake (Eanes schools), Tarrytown, Pemberton Heights, Old Enfield, or gated Barton Creek. At $10 million, you are in trophy territory: Lake Austin waterfront with a private dock, a large new-construction estate in Westlake, or a Barton Creek compound on acreage, almost always new or extensively rebuilt.

A Chicago household earning $1,000,000 a year pays Illinois a flat 4.95% income tax, about $49,500 a year. In Texas that becomes zero. Invest that annual saving at a conservative 6%, and it compounds to roughly $652,000 in ten years, $1.82 million in twenty, and $3.91 million in thirty. And here is the part that surprises Chicago movers: Texas property tax is actually lower than Illinois's, so unlike most relocations, you tend to save on property tax too. (This is genera

A New York City household earning $1,000,000 a year pays roughly $103,000 in combined state and city income tax, every year. In Texas, that number is zero, because Texas has no state income tax and no city income tax. But the tax you stop paying is only the start of the math.

For a Bay Area household earning $1,000,000 a year, California's income tax runs about $90,000 annually at a top rate of 13.3%, which becomes zero in Texas and compounds into real money when invested. But the number that actually moves the needle for a tech family is the one-time one: California taxes capital gains as ordinary income, so a $5 million equity event (an IPO, an acquisition, a big RSU vest) costs roughly $660,000 in California state tax.

A Los Angeles household earning $1,000,000 a year pays California roughly $90,000 in state income tax, every year, at a top rate of 13.3%. In Texas that becomes zero. Invest that annual saving at a conservative 6%, and it compounds to about $1.19 million in ten years, $3.32 million in twenty, and $7.13 million in thirty.

Masterlist of Articles & Tools for Relocation: Leaving California for Austin Moving from Los Angeles to Austin Moving from San Francisco / Bay Area to Austin Leaving New York for Austin Moving from Chicago to Austin Relocating from Seattle / Washington to Austin What $5M and $10M buy in Austin Our relocation tax calculator For a more personalized, complimentary analysis, contact us. Relocating to Austin: The Honest, Numbers-First Guide for High Earners Short answer: Austin is