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Moving to Houston from Seattle
Housing is the story, not income tax. City sale medians, the tax lines that do and do not move, flood zones, and where a Seattle commute actually lands.
$349,769
Houston city median sale vs $874,421 Seattle
$0
Income-tax delta (WA and TX both $0)
1,258+
IRS returns WA to Houston metro, 2022-2023
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Housing cost
How much cheaper is housing in Houston than Seattle?
A lot cheaper, and housing is the whole story on this page. Redfin’s city Data Center, pulled September 20, 2026, puts Seattle’s median sale price at $874,421 over the three months ending August 2026. Houston city, same source, same pull, three months ending August 2026: $349,769.
The general playbook is moving to Houston. This page stays on the Seattle comparison.
Those are city-to-city sale medians. They are not the same measure as Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS closed sales. On the MLS side, Greater Houston single-family homes that went under contract from April 1 to June 30, 2026 — the last quarter that has finished closing — had a median under-contract price of $344,858 across 23,238 sales, and a median 29 days to offer. I use that settled window because a trailing 90-day pull on Repliers’ under-contract date is still filling in. Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS.
The gap is why Washington households that do move here bring money with them. IRS SOI county inflow for tax years 2022–2023 counted at least 1,258 returns from Washington into Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston, and Brazoria Counties, with about $185 million of AGI, or about $147,000 per return. That is a state figure, not a Seattle figure, and the county file suppresses small flows, so “at least” is the honest word. The IRS is counting tax returns, which approximate households.
| Measure | Seattle / King County | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| City median sale (Redfin) | $874,421 | $349,769 |
| Metro under-contract median (HAR MLS, Q2 2026) | — | $344,858 |
| What the number is | City sale median, 3 months ending August 2026 | City sale median, or 9-county single-family under contract |
What that buys is the part Seattle buyers feel first: more house, or the same budget with a payment that still has room for Texas property tax. A $349,769 Houston city median is not a $349,769 King County house. Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table puts King County’s median housing value at $859,900 and Harris County’s at $276,600. Those are ACS values, not asking prices, but they show why the first tour list here looks long to a Seattle buyer. 123 of 252 Greater Houston ZIPs contain no MUD; the other 129 can add a line. For the rest of the cost stack — groceries, utilities, that MUD conversation — start at the Houston cost of living relocation guide.
Houston vs Seattle
Houston vs Seattle: what actually changes?
You trade a mild, wet winter and no state income tax for heat, humidity, a defined hurricane season, and still no state income tax. The climate change is real. The income-tax change is not.
Rain and gray versus heat and a season on the calendar
Seattle’s reputation is rain. Houston’s is summer. The National Hurricane Center’s Atlantic season runs June 1 through November 30 every year. That is a season, not a surprise. I do not print a heat-index range I cannot source; National Weather Service Houston/Galveston publishes the normals, and you will feel them in July whether I write a number or not. Snow is not the planning problem. Humidity and a hurricane plan are.
What does not change
Washington has no state personal income tax. Texas does not either. If someone sold you this move as a tax-cut, they were describing California or New York, not Seattle. Property tax is the line that moves, and it moves the other way. That math is the next section.
The city itself
Houston is the fourth-largest U.S. city (Census Vintage 2024: 2,390,125). It is not a smaller Seattle with cheaper houses. It is bigger, hotter, more spread out, and organized around freeways and independent school districts rather than a single downtown and a light-rail spine. Inside the Loop is the urban core; most of the inventory a Seattle buyer actually writes on sits outside it, in Katy, Fort Bend, Cypress, or The Woodlands. I explain those names the first time: an ISD is the school district, a MUD is a Municipal Utility District that can add a line to the tax bill, and “Inside the Loop” means inside Interstate 610.
Seattle buyers who optimized for a 20-minute light-rail ride will not find that as the default. The commute here is a freeway and a driveway. That is why I start with the job pin, not a vibe about which suburb “feels like Seattle.” Katy is west on I-10. The Woodlands and Spring are north on I-45. Fort Bend is southwest. Those are directions, price bands, and ISDs.
Taxes
Do you save on taxes moving from Seattle to Houston?
Not on income tax. Washington and Texas both charge $0 of state personal income tax, so a household at $200,000 of taxable income, married filing jointly, saves nothing on that line. Property tax is the one that usually goes up as a rate.
Washington does levy a capital-gains excise — 7 percent, plus 2.90 percent on Washington gains over $1 million beginning in 2025 (RCW 82.87.040; Washington Department of Revenue). The 2025 standard deduction is $278,000. It applies to stocks, bonds, and similar assets. It does not apply to the sale of real estate. The Department of Revenue’s own FAQ is blunt: you do not owe this tax when you sell real estate, including a primary residence. I mention it so nobody treats it as an income-tax savings or as a tax on the Seattle house.
The property-tax shock is larger for this origin than for Chicago or New Jersey. Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table (2024 ACS data; the rate is Tax Foundation’s published figure, not the two medians divided) puts King County, Washington at a 0.76 percent effective rate: median tax paid $7,114 on a median value of $859,900. Harris County, Texas is 1.50 percent: $4,489 on $276,600. Fort Bend County is 1.77 percent: $6,965 on $374,500. The rate goes up. The dollar on the median house can still be lower because the house is cheaper. That is why I will not print a savings range. I will run the stack on the pin.
Texas has no state property tax. Your bill is the stack on that parcel — county, city or unincorporated, school district, community college, and often a MUD. School districts levied 48.50 percent of Texas property taxes in 2023, which is why the homestead exemption is the piece relocating buyers feel first. The state-mandated school homestead is $140,000 of appraised value (Tax Code 11.13(b)). Houston ISD, pulled with the hub on September 20, 2026, publishes $140,000 plus 20 percent of appraised value and a 2025 adopted rate of $0.8783 per $100. On a $300,000 house that is $878.30 of HISD tax. County, city, college, and any MUD still sit on top. There is no honest single rate per ZIP. Look up the parcel at Harris County Appraisal District or Fort Bend Central Appraisal District, or start with the Houston MUD districts by ZIP code page.
Want this run for your situation?
Send me your Seattle neighborhood, timeline, and budget band — I’ll come back with three matched Houston corridors and a property-tax comparison built off your actual numbers.
Where to land
Where do Seattle transplants live in Houston?
They live where the commute and the price band line up, not in a single “Seattle neighborhood.” The three corridors I start with are the Energy Corridor, Downtown, and the Texas Medical Center.
Energy Corridor
If the job is west-side energy, I start west. Katy and the Energy Corridor put you on I-10 toward those campuses. Katy’s Q2 2026 under-contract median on the HAR MLS pull above was $350,000 across 1,728 sales, 22 days to offer. That is a price band, not a personality. The homes near major employers page is the commute version of this; the where to live in Houston guide is the decision version.
Downtown and the Texas Medical Center
Downtown jobs pull people Inside the Loop or just outside it. TMC is its own magnet: the About page at tmc.edu, pulled September 20, 2026, lists 120,000+ employees. Medical Center South, Bellaire, and West University Place are the first map pins I draw for that commute. Bellaire’s settled-quarter median was $1,320,000 on 55 sales — a small sample, and I say so.
How I actually narrow it
I use commute, budget, flood zone, and the ISD. An ISD is the school district; its lines ignore city limits. I do not rank neighborhoods by who lives there. The Woodlands settled-quarter HAR MLS median was $682,500 across 406 sales, 12 days to offer — a north-side price band when the job is I-45, not a personality. Cypress sits on the same north-west side of the map when the budget is closer to the metro $344,858 median. For the map of the region, use the Houston ZIP code map. For district names and 2026 TEA ratings, use Houston school districts.
Flood zones
What should a Seattle buyer know about Houston flood zones?
Ask for the FEMA zone on the exact pin, not a vibe about the neighborhood. Seattle buyers often do not know to ask. Houston buyers who have been through Harvey do.
I report the zone FEMA assigned. Special Flood Hazard Area means the 1 percent annual-chance floodplain on the current Flood Insurance Rate Map. Zone X is FEMA’s label for areas outside that, including the 0.2 percent annual-chance floodplain. Zone D means FEMA has not determined it. Those are FEMA’s terms. I do not grade the risk.
A zone is not a history, and a history is not a zone. Harris County Flood Control District’s Harvey figures, already on the flood hub, are the reason I will not tell you a Zone X pin is “fine.” Type the address into the Houston flood zone map by address. That tool reads FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at the point. Do it before you get attached to a listing, and do it again before you write the offer. Zoning and maps move. The pin does not lie as often as a ZIP-level story does.
Lenders and the National Flood Insurance Program use that same FEMA map. If the pin is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, budget a flood-insurance quote during option period, not after you are in love with the kitchen. If it is Zone X, still read the seller’s disclosure and the Harris County Flood Control District overlay for Harris County addresses. I will pull all three with you. I will not grade the street.
The playbook
How do you buy a Houston home from Seattle?
You buy it the same way a Houston buyer does, except the first tours can be video and the close can be a mobile notary or a flight. The contract is still the Texas form.
Get fully pre-approved with a Texas-licensed lender. Send me the job address, school needs, and a budget that already includes property tax and HOA. I come back with a corridor shortlist and the flood and MUD questions to run on it. Plan a three-to-four-day trip if you can travel; if you cannot, we start on video.
Option period is where the inspection, appraisal, and insurance quotes happen, including flood insurance if the zone or the lender requires it. Confirm wire instructions by phone. Close in person, by mobile notary, or by remote online notarization if your lender and title company allow it. Apply for the homestead exemption after you own the house and occupy it. It is not automatic.
A typical Seattle-to-Houston purchase I run lands in a 60–90 day window from first call to keys, assuming the Seattle house is not the thing holding the timeline. If it is, we sequence the two closings on purpose instead of hoping they land on the same Friday.
Texas option period is a negotiated number of days, not a Washington-style inspection contingency you invent later. Use it. The homestead exemption is a Texas filing after you occupy; it is the $140,000 school-homestead line plus any local option, and it does not apply while the house is vacant or rented. I will put the filing reminder on the closing checklist. I will not tell you the bill is “about 2 percent” and leave it there.
Coming from somewhere else?
Which Houston relocation guide should you read next?
Moving to Houston from California — Prop 13 vs Texas property tax, neighborhood matches by California origin.
Moving to Houston from New York — SALT-cap math, NY / NJ / CT income tax, neighborhood matches by NY origin.
Moving to Houston from Denver — Colorado 4.4 percent income tax, housing, Energy Corridor and the ExxonMobil campus in Spring.
Moving to Houston from Chicago — Illinois 4.95 percent, a modest housing gap, and a smaller property-tax shock.
Houston relocation guide — the general Houston relocation playbook. This page stays on the Seattle comparison.
Ready to run your Seattle-to-Houston numbers?
Send me your Seattle neighborhood, timeline, and budget band — I’ll come back with three matched Houston corridors, a property-tax comparison on those parcels, and a typical 60-90 day path to close.
