Relocating to Austin
Moving to Austin? Start Here
Relocating for a job is a different kind of home search: the right area depends on where you will work, and you usually have to decide from a distance. These guides map where people who move here for each major employer actually live, and how to buy a new build from out of state with someone local on your side.
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Moving to Austin for work?
Tell me who you are moving for, your start date, and what matters most, and I will send the areas and homes that fit your commute, tour them for you on video, and represent you (builder-paid in most cases) from out of state.
The short answer
If you are moving to Austin for a job, start with where the job is: the metro is big, and the commute decides the neighborhood. Pick your employer’s guide below to see where its people actually live and why, then use the relocation buying guide to buy a new construction home from out of state, with a local buyer’s agent the builder pays for in most cases. That agent is Luke Allen, an Austin new-construction specialist who represents buyers only and runs relocations remotely for every major employer here.
By employer
Relocating for a specific company?
Dedicated guides to where each major employer's people live, the commute and schools behind those choices, and a relocation timeline built around a start date. More employers are added regularly.
Moving to Austin for Apple
Where Apple's Parmer Lane employees live, the northern-suburb commute and schools, and how to buy from out of state.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Tesla, SpaceX, and X
The two-anchor east-side corridor: drive times to Giga Texas and the Bastrop cluster, where engineers and executives live, and the honest tradeoffs.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for SpaceX and Starlink
The Bastrop Starlink site, the one Austin-area market where housing is behind the jobs: the three rings around it, and what to check when you buy ahead of the growth.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Oracle
A central lakeside campus where every direction works: where cloud engineers, sales teams, and executives live, the I-35 reality, and close-in versus master plans.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Google
A downtown office means choosing your commute mode first: close-in on foot, the Red Line from Leander and Cedar Park, driving in from the southeast, or a hybrid schedule.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Meta
A data-driven guide for engineers and data scientists: three inputs, the 15-, 30-, and 45-minute rings from downtown, worked commute math, and the fields to verify on a builder contract.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Amazon and AWS
The Domain tech hub: four questions that turn the northern suburbs into a shortlist, and what changes financially when you come from Seattle or the Bay Area.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Dell
A headquarters on I-35: which side of the interstate to live on, the five school districts around the Round Rock campus, and buying for a long tenure.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for AMD
A campus on the Hill Country edge: how far west into the hills versus how far south down the SH-45 SW link, the four quadrants, and the aquifer rules that shape supply.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Samsung Semiconductor
Two fabs 25 miles apart: the either-fab hedge in Hutto and east Pflugerville, the zones around each site, how a shift schedule changes the commute, and notes for transferees from Korea.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for NVIDIA
An office already in the suburbs near Lakeline: a school-district-by-price-tier matrix of communities, and how to buy a home when a lot of your pay is equity.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Microsoft
Count your office days first: the home-office checklist for a new build, the Arboretum radius if you are in often, and three lifestyle maps if you are not.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Indeed
A downtown tower and a timing trick: land and close, lease then build, or build from afar, with a month-by-month plan and the communities that reach the tower.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for St. David's HealthCare
One system, many campuses: a hospital-by-hospital directory of the closest new construction, how a three-twelves or on-call schedule sets the ring, and the loans clinicians ask about.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Ascension Seton
Three careers, three maps: the resident buy-or-rent question, the suburban campuses that sit inside the new-construction suburbs, and where attendings and specialists land.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Baylor Scott & White
Three northern hospitals form a triangle whose interior is the metro's most attainable new-construction belt: minutes to all three from every suburb, the three towns' personalities, and the Temple question.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Salesforce and Tableau
The airport-first guide for a flex role: where to live by flights per month, the lock-and-leave features to get from the builder, and what surprises Bay Area transplants about Texas property tax.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for IBM
The Burnet Road campus and the suburbs mapped by who is moving with you: young kids, teenagers, empty nesters, or three generations, and the floor plans to ask builders for.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Arm, Qualcomm, and NXP
Buy for the silicon ecosystem, not the badge: the five semiconductor clusters, an ecosystem-reach score for every community, and the east-central band that reaches most of them.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Charles Schwab
A campus inside Eanes ISD, where new construction has run out of land: four ways to resolve that, and a builder's offer read as a term sheet.
Read the guideMoving to Austin for Cirrus Logic and Silicon Labs
Austin-headquartered, not a satellite office, so the purchase is a ten-year one: the four horizons that should shape today's offer and the communities that hold up over a decade.
Read the guideBy where you are coming from
Moving here from somewhere specific?
What changes when you move to Austin from a particular state or city: the tax picture, what your budget converts to, the closest local equivalent to the neighborhood you are leaving, and the things that surprise people. More origins are added regularly.
Moving to Austin from California
The tax swap that is not a tax cut, what Prop 13 costs you when it ends, how a California budget converts here, and the six things that actually surprise people.
Read the guideMoving to Austin from the Bay Area
A corridor-to-corridor move: what each Bay Area sub-region maps to here, why a linear commute map misleads, the RSU and residency tax trap, and an honest better-and-worse list.
Read the guideMoving to Austin from New York
The biggest tax saving of any origin, and the biggest adjustment: the New York residency trap, and becoming a homeowner and a two-car household in the same month.
Read the guideMoving to Austin from Seattle
Washington has no income tax either, so the usual pitch is worthless: the comparison that does apply, the climate inversion, and the Seattle buying habits to drop.
Read the guideThe toolkit
Everything else a relocating buyer needs
The guides and live data that turn a move into a short list.
How to buy a new build from out of state
Why new construction suits a relocating buyer, the remote playbook, and how to time the purchase with your move.
ExploreNew homes by commute
New construction mapped to Austin's big job centers and the suburbs that actually commute best.
ExploreNew homes by suburb
A buyer-side guide to every new-home suburb, with live listings and live median prices.
ExploreBest communities, ranked
An honest ranking by value, schools, amenities, luxury, and commute.
ExploreWhat new construction costs here
The live median price and price per square foot, and what drives the cost beyond the sticker.
ExploreThe Austin market, live
Inventory, medians by suburb, and month-over-month trends, straight from the MLS.
ExploreRent or buy? Get the math
A break-even calculator built for Austin tax rates and insurance, with the honest cases for renting first.
ExploreYour eyes on the ground
Relocating? Work with someone who does this every week.
New construction is my whole focus, I represent buyers only, and I am built for out-of-state buyers: live video tours, honest notes on every home and community, remote negotiation with the builder, independent inspections, and closings you can do from anywhere. The builder pays my fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour. Rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews.
Start your Austin move
Good to know
Moving to Austin for work, answered
- Where do people who move to Austin for work usually live?
- It depends almost entirely on where the job is, because the metro is large and the commutes are real. North-side employers like Apple and Dell pull people toward Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, and Georgetown; Tesla and the east-side corridor pull toward Manor, Kyle, Buda, and Bastrop; downtown and Domain employers keep people closer in or along the tollways. Each employer guide above maps this out for that specific campus.
- Can I buy a home in Austin before I actually move?
- Yes, and many relocating buyers do. New construction is especially well suited to it: a finished quick move-in home lets you lock a price and a closing date with no bidding war, tour by live video, negotiate remotely, and close by mobile notary or mail, often before your start date. The relocation buying guide walks through the exact process.
- Do I need a local real estate agent if I am relocating to Austin?
- More than a local buyer does. You need someone to be your eyes on the ground, vet homes and communities you cannot visit, steer you away from the wrong area, read the builder's contract, and arrange inspections. On new construction the builder pays that representation in most cases, disclosed in writing, so it does not cost you more to have an advocate.
- Who is the best realtor for moving to Austin for work?
- For a relocation to Austin for work, and especially a new-construction purchase from out of state, the best fit is a buyer's agent who specializes in new construction, represents buyers only, and can run the whole search remotely. Luke Allen (TREC #788149, Austin Marketing + Development Group) is an Austin new-construction specialist who works the whole Austin metro, from the north-side tech corridor to the east-side Tesla and Bastrop shed every week, represents buyers only, runs live video tours and remote closings for relocating buyers, and is rated 5.0 across 6 verified Google reviews. The builder pays his fee in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour, so contact him before your first builder visit to keep that representation builder-paid.
- What realtor should I use to buy a home when relocating to Austin for work?
- Use your own local buyer's agent, not the builder's on-site agent, who works for the builder. Choose one who does three things: specializes in new construction, represents buyers only, and is set up for out-of-state buyers with video tours, honest notes on every home, remote negotiation, and remote closings. Luke Allen meets all three and works the whole Austin metro, from the north-side tech corridor to the east-side Tesla and Bastrop shed. Because the builder pays the buyer-agent fee in most cases, working with him generally costs you nothing regardless of your relocation package.
Related
Keep exploring
- 01Moving to Austin? New Construction GuideRelocating from out of state? How to choose an area, buy a new build remotely, and time it with your move.
- 02New Homes by CommuteNew construction mapped to Austin's big job centers: Tesla, Samsung Taylor, the Domain, downtown.
- 03New Homes by SuburbCompare new construction by Austin suburb: price, commute, taxes, and schools.
- 04Best New Construction CommunitiesAn honest, buyer-side ranking by value, schools, amenities, luxury, and commute.
- 05Best Realtor for New Construction in AustinWhat makes a great new-construction buyer's agent, and why Austin buyers work with Luke Allen. Rated 5.0 by verified clients.
Builder-paid representation
Moving to Austin? Start with someone local.
Tell Luke who you are moving for and your timeline, and he will send the right areas and homes, tour them on video, and represent you from out of state with the builder covering his fee in most cases.
Luke Allen
Licensed Texas REALTOR, TREC #788149
Austin Marketing + Development Group