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Moving to Houston from Chicago
A modest housing gap, Illinois income tax you leave, a smaller property-tax shock than Seattle, and the Downtown / Texas Medical Center commute.
$9,900
IL income tax left behind at $200k MFJ
~18%
City sale-median gap, Chicago to Houston
2,238+
IRS returns IL to Houston metro, 2022-2023
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Housing cost
How much cheaper is housing in Houston than Chicago?
It is cheaper, but this is the smallest housing gap of the three origin cities on this site. Redfin’s city Data Center, pulled September 20, 2026, puts Chicago’s median sale price at $426,255 over the three months ending August 2026. Houston city, same source, same pull, three months ending August 2026: $349,769. That is about $76,000, or roughly 18 percent, not a Seattle-sized cut.
The general playbook is moving to Houston. This page stays on the Chicago comparison.
Those are city sale medians. They are not Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS closed sales. 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. Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS.
If you came here from a headline that treated Houston as half of Chicago, the city sale medians do not support that. The money in this move is more often the income-tax line and the fact that Cook County property tax is already high. IRS SOI county inflow for tax years 2022–2023 counted at least 2,238 returns from Illinois into the five Houston-metro counties, with about $202 million of AGI, or about $90,000 per return. State figure. “At least.” Tax returns approximate households.
Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table puts Cook County’s median housing value at $324,500 and Harris County’s at $276,600. Those ACS values are closer than King-versus-Harris or Denver-versus-Harris. That is the same story as the Redfin city medians: cheaper, modestly. What you buy for $349,769 in Houston city is still a different house than $426,255 in Chicago — lot size, age, and whether a MUD sits on the tax bill. 123 of 252 Greater Houston ZIPs contain no MUD. Ask about the rest.
| Measure | Chicago | Houston |
|---|---|---|
| City median sale (Redfin) | $426,255 | $349,769 |
| Metro under-contract median (HAR MLS, Q2 2026) | — | $344,858 |
| Gap, city to city | About $76,000 / 18 percent — cheaper, not half | |
For the rest of the monthly stack, use the Houston cost of living relocation guide. This page stays on the Chicago comparison.
Houston vs Chicago
Houston vs Chicago: what actually changes?
You leave a real winter and a flat 4.95 percent Illinois income tax. You gain a long summer, a hurricane season, and $0 of Texas income tax. Housing gets somewhat cheaper. Property tax, as a rate, does not shock you the way it shocks a Seattle buyer.
Winter versus summer
Chicago winter is the thing people pack for. Houston summer is the thing they underestimate. The National Hurricane Center’s Atlantic season runs June 1 through November 30. I am not printing an unsourced heat-index range; National Weather Service Houston/Galveston has the normals. You will want a house whose air conditioning is not a hope.
The job that pulled you
Downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center are the two commutes I hear most from Chicago. TMC’s About page, pulled September 20, 2026, lists 120,000+ employees. Energy jobs land on the Energy Corridor. This is a freeway city. The train is not the plan.
The city shape
Houston is the fourth-largest U.S. city (Census Vintage 2024). An ISD is the school district; its lines ignore city limits. A MUD is a Municipal Utility District that can add a tax line. Inside the Loop means inside Interstate 610. Chicago buyers who want walkable density start Inside the Loop or in The Heights / Montrose / Midtown. Those names are housing stock and commute: bungalows and townhomes close to downtown, not a demographic story. Chicago buyers who want a yard and a district start in Fort Bend, Katy, or Pearland. Katy’s settled-quarter HAR MLS median was $350,000 across 1,728 sales, 22 days to offer — next to the metro $344,858 median.
The train is not the plan. Downtown and TMC are freeway commutes unless you take a house close enough to walk or bike a short last mile. I start with the job pin, then the price band, then the ISD. I do not start with which suburb “feels like Chicago.”
Taxes
Do you save on taxes moving from Chicago to Houston?
On income tax, yes. Illinois Department of Revenue publishes a 4.95 percent individual rate, in effect since July 1, 2017. On $200,000 of taxable income, married filing jointly: $200,000 x 0.0495 = $9,900. Texas is $0. That is the income-tax line only.
The property-tax shock is smaller for this reader than for Seattle or Denver. Tax Foundation’s March 16, 2026 county table puts Cook County at a 1.73 percent effective rate: median tax paid $6,191 on a median value of $324,500. Harris County is 1.50 percent: $4,489 on $276,600. Fort Bend County is 1.77 percent: $6,965 on $374,500. You are not jumping from Denver County’s 0.47 percent into Texas. You are moving between two expensive property-tax counties, and sometimes the Houston parcel is the cheaper rate. Fort Bend can land higher than Cook as a rate. That is the differentiator on this page, and it is why I will not sell you a property-tax windfall.
Texas still has no state property tax, and the bill is still a local stack. The school homestead is $140,000 (Tax Code 11.13(b)). Houston ISD, pulled September 20, 2026, publishes $140,000 plus 20 percent and $0.8783 per $100 for 2025. On a $300,000 house that is $878.30 of HISD tax. County, city, college, and any MUD still sit on top. Look up the parcel, or start with the Houston MUD districts by ZIP code page.
$9,900 of Illinois income tax you stop paying is one line. I will not turn it into a savings range. I will run the stack on the house. A $6,191 Cook County median tax bill next to a $4,489 Harris County median tax bill is the shape of the property-tax trade, not your bill. Your bill is the parcel, the ISD, and whether a MUD sits on it.
Want this run for your situation?
Send me your Chicago 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 Chicago transplants live in Houston?
Downtown and the Texas Medical Center are the two commutes I start with. Energy Corridor when the job is west. The house follows the driveway and the price band.
Downtown and Inside the Loop
If the job is downtown and you want to stay urban, I start Inside the Loop and in the close-in neighborhoods that still have townhome and bungalow stock. That is a commute and a housing-stock conversation, not a demographic one. The Heights, Montrose, and Midtown are the first map pins for that stock. They are also tighter inventories than Katy. I will not pretend the payment looks like the metro median.
Texas Medical Center
TMC is 120,000+ employees on its own About page. Medical Center South, Bellaire, and West University Place are the first pins. Bellaire’s settled-quarter HAR MLS median was $1,320,000 on 55 sales — a small sample, and I say so. Pearland sits south of TMC when the buyer wants a yard and a shorter Medical Center drive than Katy can offer. That is a driveway and a price band.
How I narrow it
Commute, price band, housing stock, flood zone, ISD. Map: Houston ZIP code map. Districts and 2026 TEA ratings: Houston school districts. Commute versions: where to live and homes near major employers. Energy Corridor is the west-side pin when the job is energy rather than downtown or TMC. I-10, not the Loop, is the first line I draw for that commute.
Flood zones
What should a Chicago buyer know about Houston flood zones?
Chicago buyers ask about basements and the lake. Houston does not do basements, and the question that replaces the lake is the FEMA zone on the pin.
I report the zone FEMA assigned. Special Flood Hazard Area is the 1 percent annual-chance floodplain. Zone X is FEMA’s label outside that, including the 0.2 percent annual-chance floodplain. Zone D means undetermined. I do not grade the risk.
Type the address into the Houston flood zone map by address before you get attached to the listing. The tool reads FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at that point. A dry-looking street is not a zone.
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 a Zone X pin is the start of diligence, not the end. I report the zone. I do not grade the risk.
The playbook
How do you buy a Houston home from Chicago?
Same Texas contract. Video first if you cannot fly. One concentrated trip if you can. Close in person, by mobile notary, or by remote online notarization if lender and title allow it.
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.
Option period is inspection, appraisal, and insurance quotes, including flood if the zone or the lender requires it. Confirm wire instructions by phone. File the homestead exemption after you occupy. It is not automatic.
Most Chicago-to-Houston purchases I run fit a 60–90 day window from first call to keys when the Illinois house is not the delay. If it is, we sequence the two closings.
Texas option period is a negotiated number of days. Use it. 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 sell you a single metro tax rate, and I will not tell you Cook County buyers always come out ahead on the property-tax line. Sometimes they do. Fort Bend is the counter-example on the rate table above.
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 Denver — Colorado 4.4 percent income tax, housing, Energy Corridor and the ExxonMobil campus in Spring.
Houston relocation guide — the general Houston relocation playbook. This page stays on the Chicago comparison.
Ready to run your Chicago-to-Houston numbers?
Send me your Chicago 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.
