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Moving to Houston from Denver
Colorado’s 4.4 percent income tax you leave, the property tax you gain, the housing cut, and the Energy Corridor / Spring commute for the job that pulled you.
$8,800
CO income tax left behind at $200k MFJ
$349,769
Houston city median sale vs $619,090 Denver
1,627+
IRS returns CO to Houston metro, 2022-2023
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Housing cost
How much cheaper is housing in Houston than Denver?
Cheaper, on a city-to-city sale median, by a few hundred thousand dollars. Redfin’s city Data Center, pulled September 20, 2026, puts Denver’s median sale price at $619,090 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 Denver comparison.
Those are city sale medians. They are not 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 had a median under-contract price of $344,858 across 23,238 sales, and a median 29 days to offer. Settled quarter, not a trailing 90-day window. Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS.
IRS SOI county inflow for tax years 2022–2023 counted at least 1,627 returns from Colorado into the five Houston-metro counties, with about $173 million of AGI, or about $106,000 per return. State figure, not a Denver figure. “At least,” because the county file suppresses small flows. Tax returns approximate households.
| Measure | Denver | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| City median sale (Redfin) | $619,090 | $349,769 |
| Metro under-contract median (HAR MLS, Q2 2026) | — | $344,858 |
| Window | 3 months ending August 2026 | City: 3 months ending August 2026. MLS: April 1–June 30, 2026 |
The housing gap is the first number. $619,090 to $349,769 is about $269,000 on the city sale median, or roughly 43 percent. That is a real cut. It is not Seattle’s cut, and it is not a promise that your Denver house nets that gap after selling costs. Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table puts Denver County’s median housing value at $616,000 and Harris County’s at $276,600. Those are ACS values. They line up with the Redfin city story: the Houston house is cheaper, and the property-tax rate on it is higher. The income-tax line and that property-tax trade are the ones Denver buyers mis-guess. Both are in the tax section. For the rest of the monthly stack, use the Houston cost of living relocation guide.
Houston vs Denver
Houston vs Denver: what actually changes?
You leave snow and altitude and a flat state income tax. You gain heat, humidity, a hurricane season on the calendar, and $0 of Texas income tax. The house gets cheaper. The property-tax rate usually does not.
Altitude and winter versus sea level and summer
Denver sits at 5,280 feet. Houston sits near sea level. That is not a vibe; it is why the first August here feels like a different climate even if you like heat. The National Hurricane Center’s Atlantic season runs June 1 through November 30. Snow removal is not the household skill you will need. A hurricane plan is. I am not printing an unsourced heat-index range; National Weather Service Houston/Galveston has the normals.
The job that pulled you
A lot of Colorado-to-Houston moves I see are energy. The Energy Corridor is the west-side version of that commute. ExxonMobil’s own Houston Campus page places the campus north of Houston at 22777 Springwoods Village Parkway, Spring, TX 77389, opened in 2014 and built for more than 10,000 employees and visitors. Spring and The Woodlands are the first map pins for that campus, not because of who lives there, because of the driveway. The Woodlands Q2 2026 under-contract median on the HAR MLS pull was $682,500 across 406 sales, 12 days to offer.
The city shape
Houston is the fourth-largest U.S. city (Census Vintage 2024). It is organized around freeways and independent school districts. An ISD is the school district. A MUD is a Municipal Utility District that can add a tax line. Inside the Loop means inside Interstate 610. Most of the inventory in the Denver price band sits outside that loop.
Denver buyers who optimized for a short winter commute and a walkable core will not find that as the default. The commute here is a freeway. Katy is west on I-10. Spring and The Woodlands are north. Fort Bend is southwest. Those are directions and ISDs, not a story about which suburb “feels like Denver.” 123 of 252 Greater Houston ZIPs contain no MUD. Ask about the other 129 before you write the offer.
Taxes
Do you save on taxes moving from Denver to Houston?
On income tax, yes, at a flat rate you can show on one line. Colorado Department of Revenue’s January 2026 Individual Income Tax Guide and the 2026 estimated-tax form DR 0104EP both use 4.4 percent. On $200,000 of taxable income, married filing jointly: $200,000 x 0.044 = $8,800. Texas is $0. That is the income-tax line only.
Property tax usually moves the other way. Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table puts Denver County at a 0.47 percent effective rate: median tax paid $2,751 on a median value of $616,000. Harris County is 1.50 percent: $4,489 on $276,600. Fort Bend County is 1.77 percent: $6,965 on $374,500. Denver is the cheapest effective rate of the three origin cities on this site. That is why the property-tax shock is larger here than for Chicago, even though the income-tax savings is real. Denver buyers who only heard “Texas has no income tax” feel this one in year two.
Texas has no state property tax. The bill is the local stack. The school homestead is $140,000 of appraised value (Tax Code 11.13(b)). Houston ISD, pulled September 20, 2026, publishes $140,000 plus 20 percent and a 2025 adopted rate of $0.8783 per $100. On a $300,000 house that is $878.30 of HISD tax. Everything else still sits on top. Look up the parcel, or start with the Houston MUD districts by ZIP code page.
$8,800 of income tax you stop paying is not “you will be ahead by $8,800.” It is one line. I run the property-tax stack on the actual house before I will say the move is cheaper after tax. A $2,751 Denver County median tax bill next to a $4,489 Harris County median tax bill is the shape of that trade, not your bill. Your bill is the parcel.
Want this run for your situation?
Send me your Denver 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 Denver transplants live in Houston?
They live on the commute that matches the job. Energy Corridor for west-side energy. Spring and The Woodlands for the ExxonMobil campus ExxonMobil itself puts in Spring. Downtown and the Texas Medical Center when that is the pin.
Energy Corridor and the west side
I-10 west is the first drawing I do for a west-side energy job. Katy’s settled-quarter HAR MLS median was $350,000 across 1,728 sales, 22 days to offer. That is inventory and a price band sitting next to the metro $344,858 median. The homes near major employers page and the where to live guide are the two next clicks.
Spring, The Woodlands, and the north freeway
ExxonMobil’s published Houston Campus address is in Spring, north of Houston, near I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road. I start the shortlist there and in The Woodlands because the driveway is shorter, not because of a story about who lives in those places. The Woodlands settled-quarter HAR MLS median was $682,500 across 406 sales, 12 days to offer. That is a higher band than Katy. If the budget is the metro median, we look at Spring and Cypress first and treat The Woodlands as the stretch list, not the default.
How I narrow it
Commute, price band, housing stock, flood zone, ISD. An ISD is the school district. I do not describe an area by who lives there. Map: Houston ZIP code map. Districts and 2026 TEA ratings: Houston school districts.
Flood zones
What should a Denver buyer know about Houston flood zones?
Denver buyers ask about hail and wildfire. Houston buyers who have been here since 2017 ask about the FEMA zone on the pin. You should ask the Houston question before you write the offer.
I report the zone FEMA assigned. Special Flood Hazard Area is the 1 percent annual-chance floodplain on the current map. Zone X is FEMA’s label outside that, including the 0.2 percent annual-chance floodplain. Zone D means undetermined. Those are FEMA’s words. I do not grade the risk.
Run the address through the Houston flood zone map by address. It reads FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at that point. A Zone X pin is not a history, and a dry-looking street is not a zone. Do it before you get attached to the listing.
Lenders and the National Flood Insurance Program use that same FEMA map. If the pin is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, get the flood-insurance quote during option period. If it is Zone X, still read the seller’s disclosure and, for Harris County addresses, the Harris County Flood Control District overlay. Harvey’s house-flooding figures, already on the flood hub, are why I will not call a Zone X pin finished diligence. I pull the zone. I do not grade the risk.
The playbook
How do you buy a Houston home from Denver?
Same Texas contract, more video, one or two trips if you can make them. The close can be a mobile notary or a flight.
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. Three to four days on the ground if you can travel; video if you cannot.
Option period is inspection, appraisal, and insurance quotes, including flood 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 lender and title allow it. File the homestead exemption after you occupy. It is not automatic.
Most Denver-to-Houston purchases I run fit a 60–90 day window from first call to keys when the Colorado house is not the delay. If it is, we sequence the two closings instead of stacking them on the same week and hoping.
Texas option period is a negotiated number of days. Use it for inspection, appraisal, and the insurance quotes. The homestead exemption is a Texas filing after you occupy — $140,000 of school homestead plus any local option. It does not apply while the house is vacant. I will put the filing on the closing checklist. I will not tell you the tax bill is a single metro rate.
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 Seattle — Housing cost, no income-tax savings, flood zones, Energy Corridor and TMC.
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 Denver comparison.
Ready to run your Denver-to-Houston numbers?
Send me your Denver 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.
