Austinculture & etiquette

Texas funds itself through property tax instead, and effective rates in the Austin area run around 1.8–2.2% of assessed value annually. On a $600,000 house that is roughly $11,000–13,000 a year, and it is baked into your rent whether you own or not. The no-income-tax headline is real, but it is not free money — the trade is visible the moment you look at buying.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country. Because the state declined the ACA Medicaid expansion, there is a coverage gap: people earning too much for Texas Medicaid — which for adults is extremely restrictive — but too little for marketplace subsidies. Texas also uses the federal HealthCare.gov rather than running its own exchange. If your job does not come with insurance, price this carefully before you accept an offer.

Texas is the most generous of the big states here: 90 days from becoming a resident, against California's ten. Better, Texas has reciprocity with France, Germany, South Korea, the UAE and Taiwan — a valid unexpired licence from one of those means no knowledge test and no skills test. The 30-day residency proof requirement is also waived if you surrender a valid out-of-state licence.

SSA verifies your status against DHS records that lag entry by one to two weeks, so arriving on day two usually means a wasted trip. Only work-authorised people qualify; everyone else files IRS Form W-7 for an ITIN. The card is free.

Austin permitted and built apartments at a rate no other large American city matched, and asking rents dropped materially from their 2022 peak rather than continuing to climb. It is the clearest natural experiment in US housing supply of the last decade. Practically: negotiate, ask for concessions, and do not accept the first number — free-month offers are common in new buildings.

Austin is a car city — public transport covers a fraction of it and the sprawl is real. Summers regularly run above 38°C for weeks, and the February 2021 grid failure is a live memory that shapes how people prepare. Check that any rental has functioning central air conditioning, and treat it as a dealbreaker rather than an amenity.