Austin vs. Denver: Which City Should You Move To in 2026?

I get this call more than you might think. Someone’s been working remotely for a few years, their lease is up, and they’ve narrowed it down to two cities. Austin or Denver. Mountain town versus Silicon Hills. Barbecue and live music versus skiing and craft beer. They want me to tell them which one to pick.

Here’s my honest answer: I’m biased. I’ve been selling homes in Austin for 16 years and I live here. But I also think Austin vs Denver is one of the more interesting city comparisons you can make right now, because both went through the same pandemic-era insanity — prices doubled, then corrected, and now everyone’s recalibrating what they actually got for their money.

So lets look at this honestly. I’ll tell you where Austin clearly wins, where Denver has a real edge, and who each city is actually built for. If you’ve done your homework and Austin is still on the list, I’ll tell you where to look when you get here.

The 26% Number Everyone Cites

Cost-of-living data puts Austin about 26% cheaper than Denver overall in early 2026. That’s the headline. But raw indexes don’t tell you much by themselves — what does 26% actually mean for how you live?

The lifestyle that costs $7,900 a month in Denver runs about $5,880 in Austin. That’s $2,020 a month back in your pocket — or $24,240 a year — before you account for the tax situation, which we’ll get to in a minute. For a remote worker earning a Denver or Bay Area salary, that gap compounds quickly.

The categories where Austin pulls ahead most sharply: housing (obviously, more on that below), childcare ($8,759 per year for a child under 3 versus $13,154 in Denver), and public transit (Austin’s monthly pass runs $41.25 versus Denver’s $99). Groceries lean slightly cheaper in Austin as well. Denver has a modest edge on utility costs in mild months, but Austin air conditioning bills in July will remind you that tradeoffs exist everywhere.

For a full breakdown of what things actually cost in the Austin Hill Country specifically, our West Austin and Hill Country cost of living guide has the granular numbers.

Housing: Two Markets That Both Need a Reality Check

Austin’s median sale price landed around $435,000 in late 2025, down considerably from the $560,000-plus peaks we hit in 2022. Denver’s median is hovering somewhere between $540,000 and $585,000 depending on which data you look at — also off its peak, but less so.

So Austin runs about $100,000 to $150,000 cheaper at the median. That’s not a rounding error. On a 30-year mortgage with 20% down, that gap translates to roughly $550-$700 less per month. And the gap holds in the Hill Country suburbs — Lakeway, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs — which are where most of the families making this comparison actually end up landing.

Both cities are still in the middle of a correction from pandemic peaks, and both have elevated inventory right now. In Austin we’re sitting at around 12,800 active listings with an average of 89 days on market — the slowest pace since 2011. Denver’s inventory has also climbed. Neither city is a seller’s market at the moment.

The buyers winning right now in Austin are the ones who showed up while everyone else was waiting. You can negotiate things you couldn’t get near two years ago: closing cost contributions, repair credits, rate buydowns, flexible timelines. The sticker price gets all the attention, but the terms you can negotiate right now are arguably worth more than waiting for another 5% drop in price. Our 2026-2027 housing market forecast has the full picture on where things are headed.

Taxes: This One Isn’t Even Close

Texas has no state income tax. The Texas Constitution prohibits it — voters locked that in back in 2019 to make it permanent. Colorado charges a flat 4.4% on all income. And there’s currently a ballot push in Colorado to add a graduated structure that would push that rate higher for higher earners, potentially starting in 2027.

On a $100,000 salary, that’s $4,400 a year you keep in Texas that goes to Colorado. On $150,000 it’s $6,600. On the $200,000 remote tech salaries that are increasingly common among the people making this exact decision, you’re looking at $8,800 annually. That’s a car payment. That’s three months of groceries. That’s the better part of a European vacation. Every year.

Now, Texas compensates for the income tax absence with property taxes that run among the highest in the country — around 1.6-1.9% of appraised value. But if you’re renting, you don’t pay that directly. And if you buy, the Texas homestead exemption takes a meaningful chunk off your taxable value. The math still favors Texas for most income levels.

One other thing worth noting: Colorado has been actively discussing expanding its income tax burden, not shrinking it. Texas’s constitutional prohibition isn’t going anywhere. If you’re making a 10-year financial decision, the trajectory matters as much as the current rate.

Weather: Lets Be Honest About What You’re Signing Up For

Denver wins the weather comparison for people who can’t tolerate heat. Full stop. Three hundred sunny days per year, dry summers where 90°F actually feels manageable because there’s no humidity, proper autumn colors, and real winter snowstorms that feel like seasons instead of disruptions. The altitude is 5,280 feet — the mile-high thing isn’t just branding — and your first few weeks of running or hiking, you’ll notice it.

Austin summers are hot. Not bring a jacket for the evening hot. We’re talking 100°F-plus stretches from June through September where the concrete doesn’t cool down at night. Humidity makes it feel worse than Phoenix even when the thermometer reads the same. I’ve lived here for years and I still complain about August.

But here’s what nobody from Denver wants to admit: Austin winters are genuinely pleasant. We’re talking 50°F days with sunshine when Denver is digging out from a March snowstorm. My daughter plays soccer year-round without weather interruption. We’ve had maybe three weeks total in the last five years where I actually needed a real winter coat. If you work remotely and you have flexibility in your days, the nine-month mild season in Austin is worth real weight against the three months of brutal summer.

What Austin doesn’t have: altitude-induced hangovers, black ice, budgeting for snow tires, or joints that ache in the cold. What Denver doesn’t have: the ability to swim outdoors in January. (Barton Springs Pool stays 68°F year-round. February is a perfectly reasonable time to swim there.)

Outdoor Recreation: The Rocky Mountains Are Hard to Beat, But the Hill Country Gets Undersold

If skiing is a core part of your identity, live in Denver. Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin — all within two hours. World-class skiing, snowshoeing, river rafting in summer, fly-fishing, high-altitude hiking. The mountains are the reason a lot of people put Denver on the shortlist in the first place, and it’s a legitimate reason.

But outdoor recreation doesn’t start and end with skiing, and Austin’s Hill Country gets written off unfairly in most of these comparisons.

The Barton Creek Greenbelt is 12 miles of trail, swimming holes, and cliff jumping within the city limits. Zilker Park is one of the better urban parks in the country. Lake Travis has 65 miles of shoreline — the kind of boat traffic in summer that makes you forget you’re 45 minutes from a metro area of two million people. Hamilton Pool, Krause Springs, Jacob’s Well. These aren’t things people Google before they move to Austin. They’re why people don’t leave.

Pedernales Falls State Park, Enchanted Rock, the Guadalupe River — the Hill Country within an hour of Austin is genuinely beautiful. Just different. Fewer dramatic elevation changes, more cedar and live oak, turquoise spring-fed water instead of snowmelt. Mountain bikers chasing serious vertical will need to drive further. Hikers wanting a 14er won’t find one here.

But if you’re a cyclist, paddler, swimmer, or trail runner who isn’t chasing elevation gain, Austin delivers more than most people expect. The outdoor access is real — it’s just horizontal rather than vertical.

Honest scorecard: Denver wins for winter sports, elevation hiking, and mountain terrain. Austin wins for water recreation, year-round outdoor access, and never planning around road closures for ice.

Tech Jobs: For When Remote Work Stops Being Fully Remote

Both cities have real tech scenes. Denver ranks eighth in North America for tech talent concentration according to CBRE, with roughly 129,000 tech workers and solid growth over the last several years. Amazon, Google, and various fintech and biotech players have established real operations there.

Austin is a step higher. About 16.3% of all Austin jobs are tech-related — well above the national average — and the major employer list keeps growing. Tesla’s headquarters, Apple’s $1 billion campus, Google’s presence, Dell’s backyard, and a genuinely active startup ecosystem. The Austin/DFW corridor recently eclipsed Washington DC in North American tech hub rankings.

For a fully location-independent remote worker, this might not matter much today. But if your remote situation ever changes — company goes hybrid, you switch roles, you want optionality — Austin’s concentration of major tech employers gives you more fallback landing spots than Denver. And the salaries at those employers tend to be coastal-calibrated, which is its own advantage when you’re spending at Austin prices.

Culture, Food, and the Vibe Difference

Denver has a distinct identity. LoDo and RiNo have the kind of walkable neighborhood energy that Austin has mostly lost as it sprawled outward. The craft beer scene is serious — Colorado has more breweries per capita than almost anywhere in the country. The outdoor-focused lifestyle creates a certain social texture: people go hiking the way other cities go to happy hour. Professional sports — the Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies, Avalanche — give Denver shared cultural touchstones that Austin, at least for now, doesn’t have.

Austin’s live music scene, food truck culture, and the residue of its weird era are still there, just harder to find under the new construction. The restaurant scene has gotten genuinely better — Franklin Barbecue is still worth the wait, but it’s no longer the whole story. South Congress and East Sixth have their own texture. UT gives the city a college-town energy that doesn’t fully disappear even as tech workers outnumber students.

The honest difference between the two cities: Denver feels like a place where people go to live an outdoor life. Austin feels like a place where people go to build something — a company, a career, a portfolio. Neither is better. They’re just different gravitational fields.

Schools: Both Cities Have Strong Options, But You Need to Know Where to Look

For families with kids, both cities have access to excellent schools. In both cases you need to land in the right suburb.

In Austin, the Hill Country suburban districts are the ones that consistently get national attention: Eanes ISD (Westlake area), Lake Travis ISD (Bee Cave, Lakeway), and Dripping Springs ISD. My daughter goes to Lake Travis High School — I’ll just say I think we made a good call there. Eanes is probably the most decorated academically, but all three rank among the best in Texas. If you want the side-by-side breakdown, our West Austin school district comparison has the numbers.

Denver’s strongest family submarkets — Cherry Creek, Highlands Ranch, Douglas County — also have solid schools. The suburban school quality compares reasonably well between the two metros. What the Austin Hill Country districts have going for them is the tax revenue from a high-value property base, and it shows in facilities and programs.

Who Should Move to Austin, and Who Should Stay in Denver

Rather than declare a winner, lets just be direct about which city fits which person.

Austin is the right call if…

You’re a tech worker, remote or otherwise, who wants maximum financial leverage on a high salary. Zero state income tax plus housing that’s $100,000-$150,000 cheaper at the median compounds over time in ways that are hard to ignore. On a $200K income, you’re keeping roughly $8,800 more per year that would go to Colorado’s flat tax. That’s your investment contribution, your vacation budget, your kids’ 529. Every year.

You have kids and care about school quality. Eanes, Lake Travis, and Dripping Springs ISDs are legitimately elite, and you can access them for meaningful discounts compared to equivalent school-district homes in coastal metros.

You hate being cold. If every winter you spend two months dreaming of warmth, Austin’s nine-month mild season will feel like liberation. We have one brutal season, not two. (That one season is brutal. Not minimizing it.)

You’re building something. The entrepreneurial density in Austin is real — the access to capital, the concentration of people who’ve built companies before, the startup culture. It’s a better environment for early-stage companies than Denver right now.

Denver is the right call if…

Skiing is non-negotiable. If you go to the mountains 20-30 weekends a year and that’s core to who you are, being two hours from Vail has genuine quality-of-life value that doesn’t show up on any spreadsheet.

You genuinely can’t tolerate heat. Some people can not. Austin summers will make you miserable if you’re in that camp, and miserable people move back. Worth being honest with yourself before you sign a lease.

You want a walkable urban core. Denver’s LoDo and surrounding neighborhoods offer walkable, mixed-use urban density that Austin doesn’t fully deliver. If car-free or car-lite living matters to you, Denver has better infrastructure for it right now.

You love four real seasons. Proper autumn, genuine winter, the full thing. Some people actively want that. Denver delivers. Austin delivers two seasons: mild and summer.

Making the Move to Austin: Where to Actually Look

If you’ve done the comparison and Austin makes the list, the next question is where in Austin. This is where a lot of relocators make expensive mistakes by defaulting to what’s familiar — often the urban core — rather than what fits their actual life.

Our complete guide to moving to Austin covers the full picture: neighborhoods, school districts, commute patterns, and what your budget actually buys in different parts of the metro. If you’re coming from the California tech corridor specifically, this guide is written for you — the comparisons are drawn to Bay Area and LA reference points.

Most families landing from Denver or the coasts end up in the Hill Country suburbs — Bee Cave, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, Westlake — and for good reason. The school districts, the outdoor access, the space-to-cost ratio, and the community character tend to match what people who chose Austin over Denver were actually looking for. You can search homes in Bee Cave, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, and Westlake to get a feel for what your budget actually buys here.

And if you’re weighing buying versus renting while you get settled, the rent vs. buy math in Austin for 2026 has shifted in buyers’ favor more than most people realize.

Thinking About Making the Move to Austin?

At Neuhaus Realty Group, we specialize in helping relocators find the right neighborhood in the Hill Country — not just any house, but the one that fits how you actually want to live. We work with a lot of people who have run the Austin vs Denver numbers, made the call, and now need someone to help them figure out which Austin.

If that’s you, reach out and lets talk. I’ll give you the honest version of what your budget buys here and which neighborhoods tend to match different lifestyle priorities. No pitch, just a straight conversation.