Los Angeles buyers moving to Austin most often compare seven areas: Tarrytown, Mueller and West Lake Hills near downtown, Lakeway on Lake Travis, and Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock to the north. The decision usually turns on drive time to work, lot size and home type, HOA or MUD structure, and a 2026 property tax rate of about 1.65 to 2.12 percent.

We are Ross Speed and Lindsay Neuren, the founders of The Speed & Neuren Group at Compass. Lindsay is a third-generation Austinite who focuses on relocation clients, and Ross trained as an appraiser early in his career. This guide compares the areas LA clients ask about, runs the tax math with every assumption labeled, and names the tradeoffs.

Where do Los Angeles buyers live when they move to Austin?

These are the seven areas LA relocators ask us about most. Each row compares features you can measure, so you can weigh commute, space and tax stack against your own priorities.

Area	Free-flow drive minutes: Downtown / The Domain / Tesla Giga Texas	Homes and lots	ISD serving the area	2026 combined rate per $100 (taxing units)	HOA / MUD
West Lake Hills (Westlake)	12 / 20 / 32	Detached single-family homes; the city master plan calls for a one-acre minimum lot in its residential area	Eanes ISD	1.6543 (Travis County, Central Health, City of West Lake Hills, Eanes ISD, Travis County ESD 9, Travis County WCID No. 10)	HOAs vary by subdivision; WCID No. 10 in this stack; no MUD
Tarrytown (central Austin)	8 / 14 / 31	City of Austin lots; HOME rules allow up to three units on single-family-zoned lots and small lots down to 1,800 sq ft	Austin ISD	2.1211 (Travis County, Central Health, Austin Community College, City of Austin, Austin ISD)	Varies; read the deed restrictions in the title commitment
Mueller (central-east Austin)	8 / 15 / 22	Planned community on the 700-acre former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport: yard homes, row homes and apartments	Austin ISD	2.1211 (Same stack as Tarrytown)	Community-wide POA created by recorded covenants
Lakeway	34 / 37 / 46	Subdivisions around Lake Travis, a water-supply reservoir that LCRA operates to fluctuate	Lake Travis ISD	1.8157 (1.8688 inside Lakeway MUD) (Travis County, Central Health, City of Lakeway, Lake Travis ISD, Travis County ESD 6)	HOAs vary; parcels inside Lakeway MUD add 0.0531
Cedar Park	26 / 17 / 39	Suburban city spanning Williamson and Travis counties	Leander ISD serves much of the city; confirm by address	2.0200* (Williamson County, City of Cedar Park, Leander ISD, Austin Community College)	HOAs and MUDs vary by subdivision
Leander	33 / 24 / 46	Northern end of the CapMetro Red Line commuter rail (Leander Station)	Leander ISD	2.0594* (Williamson County, City of Leander, Leander ISD, Austin Community College)	HOAs and MUDs vary by subdivision
Round Rock	25 / 15 / 35	Home of Dell Technologies headquarters (One Dell Way)	Round Rock ISD	1.8966* (Williamson County, City of Round Rock, Round Rock ISD, Austin Community College)	HOAs and MUDs vary by subdivision

* Leander ISD’s and Round Rock ISD’s 2026 rates go to November 3, 2026 voter-approval elections.

How to read this table. Drive minutes are off-peak, free-flow estimates from OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data, computed September 28, 2026, from each city’s municipal offices (Tarrytown: Exposition Blvd; Mueller: Aldrich St) to the Texas Capitol, The Domain (Century Oaks Terrace) and Tesla Giga Texas (1 Tesla Rd). Peak-hour trips take longer. Rates are 2026 adopted rates per $100 of taxable value, before exemptions, from the Travis County Tax Office and Williamson County Tax Office rate tables, Austin ISD’s September 24, 2026 board resolution and City of Lakeway Ordinance No. 2026-09-21-04 (Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock use the Williamson County portion). The units listed are the typical stack for that area; the TCAD or WCAD record for a specific parcel lists its exact taxing units. School district boundaries do not follow city limits, so verify any address with the district’s boundary tool. Sellers of property inside a MUD must give buyers a written notice with the district’s tax rate under Texas Water Code Section 49.452.

Which areas are closest to downtown Austin?

Tarrytown and Mueller are each about 8 free-flow minutes from the Texas Capitol, and West Lake Hills about 12. Tarrytown and Mueller sit inside the City of Austin, where HOME rules allow up to three units on single-family-zoned lots and small lots down to 1,800 square feet. Mueller is a planned community on the 700-acre former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, with yard homes, row homes and apartments under a community-wide POA. West Lake Hills is a separate city whose master plan calls for a one-acre minimum lot in its residential area, and its 2026 stack is the lowest in the table at about 1.6543 per $100.

What should you check in the suburban areas?

In Lakeway, Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock, check whether a subdivision has an HOA or sits inside a MUD; a seller of property in a MUD must give you a written notice with the district’s tax rate. Round Rock is home to Dell Technologies’ headquarters, Leander is the northern end of the CapMetro Red Line, and Lakeway is about 34 free-flow minutes from the Capitol.

How much California income tax does an LA household stop paying?

All state income tax on income earned after you become a Texas resident, because Texas has no state personal income tax. Income tied to your California years, including gains realized while you were a resident, can still be taxed by California. The table shows California’s 2025 schedule at several income levels.

California taxable income (married filing jointly, 2025)	California income tax before credits	Texas state income tax
$300,000	$20,777	$0
$400,000	$30,077	$0
$500,000	$39,377	$0
$1,000,000	$89,532	$0
$1,500,000	$151,173 (includes $5,000 Behavioral Health Services Tax)	$0

Assumptions. Figures apply the 2025 California Tax Rate Schedule Y (married/RDP filing jointly) published by the Franchise Tax Board to taxable income, before exemption credits and other credits, and add the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income above $1,000,000. They exclude California SDI withholding (1.3% of all wages in 2026), federal tax and any part-year residency or California-source income rules, which can keep some income taxable in California after you move.

How much property tax will you pay in Austin compared with Los Angeles?

More, as a share of value. Austin-area 2026 combined rates run about 1.65 to 2.12 percent of taxable value before exemptions, depending on the taxing units that cover the address. California’s Proposition 13 limits the base property tax rate to 1% of assessed value. Assessed value is reset to the purchase price when a property sells, then rises each year by the lower of 2% or inflation. Voter-approved bond rates and local assessments are added on top of the 1% base, so the full rate varies by address.

Worked example: $1,000,000 homestead inside the City of Austin and Austin ISD

Taxing unit (2026 rate per $100)	Taxable value	Tax
Travis County (0.386210)	$800,000 after the county’s 20% homestead exemption	$3,089.68
City of Austin (0.579948)	$800,000 after the city’s 20% homestead exemption	$4,639.58
Central Health (0.132863)	$800,000 after Central Health’s 20% homestead exemption	$1,062.90
Austin Community College (0.103643)	$990,000 after ACC’s homestead exemption (1% of value, minimum $5,000)	$1,026.07
Austin ISD (0.9184)	$860,000 after the $140,000 school homestead exemption	$7,898.24
Total		$17,716.47 (about 1.77% of value)

Assumptions. Appraised value equals the $1,000,000 purchase price, the home qualifies as a residence homestead, and the owner is under 65. Exemptions applied: the $140,000 school exemption (Texas Tax Code Section 11.13(b)), the 20% homestead exemptions of Travis County, the City of Austin and Central Health, and Austin Community College’s exemption of 1% of value (minimum $5,000). A new owner’s homestead exemption starts in the first tax year the home is owned and occupied on January 1. TCAD notes a limited exception when the previous owner did not claim the exemption.

Rates are 2026 adopted rates: Travis County, Central Health, Austin Community College and the City of Austin from the Travis County Tax Office, and Austin ISD from its September 24, 2026 board resolution.

Texas homestead owners get two more protections. After a homestead has qualified for a full year, its appraised value for tax purposes can rise no more than 10% a year, under Texas Tax Code Section 23.23. And every owner can protest the appraised value each spring; Ross’s early training as an appraiser is useful when a protest comes down to defensible comparable sales.

How far does Los Angeles home equity go in Austin?

The California Association of Realtors reported these September 2026 medians for existing single-family homes: $994,670 in Los Angeles County, $855,000 for the Los Angeles Metro Area and $1,480,000 in Orange County. Unlock MLS reported a September 2026 median residential price of $570,958 in the City of Austin, $497,400 in Travis County and $395,000 in Williamson County. The reports define their home sets slightly differently, and prices inside individual Austin areas vary widely, so we pull MLS comparables for each area you are considering.

What changes day to day after an LA to Austin move?

Austin summers are hot and humid rather than dry, and the coast is hours away by car. The lakes, greenbelts and the city’s live-music calendar fill that space for many of our clients. Traffic concentrates on I-35, MoPac and Loop 360 rather than spreading across a freeway grid, so where you live relative to your daily route matters more than the metro’s size suggests. Property tax becomes a larger line in the budget than it was under Proposition 13, while the state income tax line goes away.

How does The Speed & Neuren Group help LA relocators?

We start with the math, pulling the exact taxing units and exemptions for each address so you know the property tax line before you fall for a house. We translate Austin areas into terms that make sense from Los Angeles, and Lindsay, a third-generation Austinite who focuses on relocation clients, means out-of-state buyers are guided street by street. When it is time to offer, Ross’s early training as an appraiser sharpens pricing and negotiation so you are not overpaying in an unfamiliar market. Much of the early work happens remotely, so your in-person trips count.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Tax outcomes depend on your income sources, filing status, residency dates and the exact property. Consult a CPA or tax attorney before you make a relocation decision based on these figures.

Frequently Asked Questions: Moving to Austin from Los Angeles