10 Things to Know Before Moving to Houston, Texas in 2027

It's the middle of July and I'm standing in Kingwood, sweating like a dog, about to tell you what life is really like here in Houston. Yes, Houston is one of the top moved-to cities in the entire United States. But everything here is not perfect. I moved here from a small town in North Idaho, Hayden, just outside Coeur d'Alene, and I went through the miserable experience of picking the wrong spot the first time. I had to yank my kids from school after telling them we'd never move again. It actually happened to me.

So in this guide, I'm walking you through the pros, the cons, and the things you just don't understand until you live here. I'm talking weather, housing, cost of living, medical care, things to do, schools, jobs, transportation, storms, construction, allergies, bugs, and the number one cost that eats at you every month. 

We've helped over 1,000 families relocate to Houston. We're matchmakers, not just agents. It's not about finding you a house. It's finding the perfect spot. And that starts with understanding what Houston really is.

Table of Contents

• Weather: Eight Months of Good, Four Months of Sweat
• Housing Market: New Construction Deals and Competitive Resale
• Medical Care: World-Class Hospitals in Every Suburb
• Things to Do: Festivals, Sports, and Live Entertainment
• Schools: Top Districts and Campus-Level Differences
• Jobs: Recession-Proof and Always Hiring
• Transportation: No Trains, Lots of Driving, and Park-and-Ride Buses
• Storms and Hurricanes: Preparation Over Panic
• Construction Season: 24/7, 365 Days a Year
• Allergies: Oak and Pine Pollen That Turns Lakes Yellow
• Bugs, Snakes, and Texas Grass
• Property Taxes and Insurance: The Real Monthly Cost
• Conclusion

Weather: Eight Months of Good, Four Months of Sweat

You can't start any Houston conversation without talking about the weather. It's the middle of July right now and it is plain hot. But here's what you can actually expect with the climate in Houston, Texas.

You're going to get eight months of what I call incredible weather. I come from North Idaho, where you're used to four, five, six feet of snow all winter long and up until April or May. Here, basically from about October until April, you're going to find really good weather. This year we've been extremely lucky. It took all the way until July to get scorching hot because we got a lot of rain in June. So if you can get summers like we have right now, where it stays mild longer, that's what I like about Houston.

If you don't like the heat, you're just not going to like anywhere in Texas or the South. It does get very, very humid here in Houston as well. You'll see higher actual temperatures up in Dallas, and lower overall temperatures here. But with the humidity and the heat index, it's probably a little stickier and hotter down here in HTX. I'd take this all day over six months of snow.

The sticky hot, sweaty hot of June, July, August, September can be pretty brutal. It's all perception. I come from the north. I'd rather have this than those crazy winters. But it just gets hot. It's really that 11, 12 o'clock to like 4 o'clock where it's just unbelievably hot outside. You do find yourself inside in the AC a little bit more. I personally love to go out in the middle of the day and wear my weight vest and hike these trails and sweat like crazy. But I'm not going to spit down your shorts and tell you it's raining. It gets stupid, stupid hot here.

Housing Market: New Construction Deals and Competitive Resale

Housing here in Houston, currently middle of 2026 going into 2027, we have basically the best deals going on in new construction. If you are in some of the top suburbs of Houston, like where I'm at right now here in Kingwood, or The Woodlands, or Cinco Ranch in Katy, or Sugar Land areas, some of these super highly desirable resale neighborhoods are still going to be competitive.

Just around the corner over here, there was a house that went for sale, and in the opening weekend it had eight offers on it and went above asking. It's because it was remodeled and it had a pool. So no matter what you hear online or nationally about the housing market crashing, the most popular neighborhoods all around Houston are still very competitive.

The new construction is where you get the most incentives and best bang for your buck right now, and it's where a lot of people are leaning. You really need to decipher between the two. If you want more of the mature, already built neighborhoods or you're cool with the brand new master plan with all the modern amenities. That is something our team can definitely help you with. We're really matchmakers at the end of the day.

New Construction Incentives

With the new construction and the incentives right now, you can still get these big 3,000-plus square foot homes under $500,000 in top amenity master-planned communities. It just has to fit you. When I moved here from the Northwest, the one thing I was looking at was these ginormous houses. Big houses for a lot cheaper than where I came from, and it's just true.

The locals are like, man, I can't believe how expensive it is, and I can't believe that's $500,000, or man, that's $350,000, that used to be $100,000. I get it. That's how it was in my small town in North Idaho. I bought my first house for like $125,000. That same house now costs about $800,000. So I don't even think Texas people truly understand how expensive things are. Here you have so many houses, so much to choose from, and so much room to build that yes, the prices have gone up and maybe doubled from what they're used to. But back in my small town of North Idaho where there's nowhere to grow, they've 4x'd or 8x'd in certain areas.

The cost of living can definitely be a pro and a con. One thing you need to know is that really the cost of living, when I moved here from the Northwest, I was looking at these ginormous houses. You can almost see them here in the backdrop. Big houses for a lot cheaper than where I came from, and it's just true.

With that, and the one thing that I love about Houston, is our gas is cheap. Currently July 2026, I just filled up. It was $3.13 a gallon, which is freaking expensive for here. I like it when it gets into the 2s, but I know nationally it's more in that $4 to $5 range.

You're getting bang for your buck here in Houston. Especially with the new construction and the incentives right now. You can still get these big 3,000-plus square foot homes under $500,000 in top amenity master-planned communities. It just has to fit you.

Medical Care: World-Class Hospitals in Every Suburb

I don't think you are fully aware just how good it is here. We have the largest medical complex in the entire world, I believe, but definitely in the country. But I do think it is in the world. Not only that, actually almost every suburb here has top, top hospitals and surgeons. You don't always have to go downtown for that special treatment. Katy, Kingwood, The Woodlands, they all have top hospitals.

If you're somebody who needs the hospital a lot, or kids or whoever, just know that you are taken care of here in Houston. That also brings a ton of jobs, big paying jobs, high-end jobs. I know a lot of people who currently work at the medical center. They just got to find their perfect spot and commute to get there. But with that, a lot of jobs and the top hospitals that you can find in the country or the world.

Things to Do: Festivals, Sports, and Live Entertainment

My favorite thing about Houston, Texas is all of the freaking things to do. I'm talking about festivals, music venues, all of the professional sports that are going on. We just had FIFA World Cup here, but you got professional baseball, football, soccer, basketball.

You also have basically every suburb at any given moment is going to have farmers markets, big concert venues, concerts on the lawn, all of those things. Renaissance festivals, pickle festivals everywhere you go. All the top performers, entertainers, comedians, they all like coming here as well. It might have something to do with those little dancing halls late at night. Just kidding. But anyways, you got more things to do here in Houston than probably anywhere else.

Schools: Top Districts and Campus-Level Differences

If you actually look up some of the school districts online on niche.com, there are a few campuses, especially high school campuses, in some of our major suburbs here that rank in the top 1% nationally. So you have a lot of top school districts.

You have to realize in Houston, these school districts can be massive and stretch out. There's certain schools in them that aren't as good, and there's certain schools in them that are amazing. Some ISDs, independent school districts, top to bottom are amazing. Those are private conversations that we have with people. But over and above all, we've got just top-tier schools, public schools and private, all over Houston.

Jobs: Recession-Proof and Always Hiring

It's basically recession-proof down here. Now don't hold me to that, but for the most part there are more jobs down here in Houston than you could ever find anywhere else because of the energy corridor, because of the hospitals, because of just how massive it is here.

Proof of that: the first time that I lived here was back in 2009, '10, '11, and the very beginning of '12. The reason I was here was because the market crashed in '08, and when you're from small towns in Idaho and Montana, there is not one job to be found. So I moved down here and started to get into line work, working power lines. I was an apprentice lineman and I worked seven days a week if I wanted to. Every single day there was more work than you could even imagine.

The craziest part was the population growth during that recession. I can't remember the exact number, but like an extra couple hundred thousand or half million people moved here in just a couple years because there was that many jobs. With that being said, you're always going to find jobs here. Your kids are going to find jobs. There's those top schools, but you have college campuses galore with UT, University of Houston, and all major Texas colleges, Sam Houston, having campuses here in Houston as well. So you got a lot of jobs, you got a lot of education here.

Transportation: No Trains, Lots of Driving, and Park-and-Ride Buses

This is actually basically a con. There is no transportation here. Now I'm standing here in Kingwood, and just a mile down the road is the HEB. There is a park and ride right there, so you can actually hop on a bus and it'll take you to downtown. I personally know a few friends who do that, who just say screw it, I don't want to deal with traffic.

So there are park and rides for buses to take you downtown, but there ain't, there isn't any major trains or trolleys that take you downtown. I was just up in the Northeast for a while, Massachusetts, Boston, and man, you hop on that train and it takes you downtown. I used to live over in Beaverton, Oregon. We used to love hopping on the train and going straight downtown to soccer games or just hanging out. You don't really have that here. There's little ones downtown Houston, but for the most part, it's going to be a park-and-ride bus system or you're going to drive.

Just expect to drive here a ton, which could be a major con. That is the number one reason why you have to figure out what lifestyle fits you best. The worst thing that can happen is what happened to me. You move here because you read about something or you fall in love with a house, and then after a few months, three months, you make the big mistake of like, what am I doing here? I absolutely hate it. I went through that, and it really was miserable. I also had to yank my kids from that school, which I told them we weren't ever moving again. It's all a true story. But then we ended up finding our perfect spot.

This might be a place that you absolutely hate. I get that. I'm not here to tell you exactly where to be, but we do help you as that matchmaker. You're going to explain a few things that you need to have, what you have to be close to, what you like, what your kids like, whoever's coming with you likes. And then we go, yep, we got a spot you've never heard of. That's how we match this.

Storms and Hurricanes: Preparation Over Panic

You deal with a lot of storms, and everybody's fearful of the hurricanes. I've been here through one of them. I've worked a couple of them back when I was doing the lineman. A lot of them have missed us. I was not here during Harvey, and that one where I'm standing was flooded. It was underwater.

We did get hit with one last year, and I will tell you the truth about hurricanes. This is the 2nd largest city in the country, I think, so obviously people just are aware it's going to happen, and you just have to be prepared for it. There's flood insurances, there's things that you can get, but it is not something, when I moved here, I thought about it a lot, but now it's not something that you really think about a lot. You get a really big buildup warning about it three, five, seven, nine days away type of thing, but you have to deal with that.

The other part is just storms. This year, which is awesome, I actually like it, it's overcast a little bit today. It helps to keep it cool. We've dealt with a ton of rain, lightning storms, wind. It can rain a couple inches, it seems like, in about 20 minutes here. I've never seen anything like it. The lightning sounds like a Civil War cannon going off right in your freaking bedroom.

Construction Season: 24/7, 365 Days a Year

One thing that I do not like the most about Houston, Texas is the one season here I just can't ever get over, and that is construction season. It is everywhere you go, 24/7, 365. They're always working on something.

Now I'm not just talking about the houses. They are constantly expanding the 99, the Beltway, 610, the highways, all of the roads in and out of these suburbs. Right now you can't see it, but our main drive in and out right here on the other side, for all of the traffic heading out of Kingwood, it's down to one lane because they're just busting up all the concrete and making it smooth again. Because we have a lot of trees, and my thought is these roots go under and make them all lift up and get all nasty. They're also always working on sewer lines here.

You're always out on 99 going into new communities, driving the highways. There is constantly traffic, road closures, lane closures. With all the construction of the homes, I have never had so many flat tires in my life. I think I had one in my whole life in North Idaho that I had to fix. I've had like nine of them here. So make sure you get some little screw plugs, something you can fix your own tires with so you're not paying an arm and a leg to get these things fixed all the time. But it is construction season here, just nonstop.

Allergies: Oak and Pine Pollen That Turns Lakes Yellow

Holy crikey, I did not know I was so affected by allergies. Growing up in the Northwest, you think I would, if I had allergies, I would have known there. The most trees, the most foliage, the most growth in the spring. But ain't nothing like Kingwood, Texas.

We've had clients, this is why you reach out, because they're like, well, I get really, really bad allergies from oak trees or pine trees. And we're like, okay, stay away from Kingwood, stay away from The Woodlands. They're like, well, those look like such great areas. Yeah, well, come springtime, this lake right here you see will be completely yellow.

These lakes, your car, the tree, the streets, everywhere completely yellow with pine. They actually can get levels that are like 10, 20, 30, 40 times above what the high alert is. So if the high alert's like 1,000, it can get up to like 10,000 on allergy. So it's really affected me. I'm getting better as the years go by, but allergies here are crazy.

Bugs, Snakes, and Texas Grass

One other thing, a major con, is the bugs and the snakes. I just saw a big turtle here. We don't have any gators in this, but Lake Houston's behind us. There are alligators there, and we see them in the bayous over here, but those don't really bother me.

It's the biting ants, it's the mosquitoes. You have a plethora of these different hornets, not even yellow jackets, there's hornets, there's mud daubers, there's cicada bugs, there's all these crazy, crazy big bugs that are always flying. The one thing that drives me most crazy is they don't affect me. I got bit here a bunch. I was trying to show that earlier. I don't know if it really comes up on camera, but they're just itchy. But that's all that happens to me. My wife will swell up, completely balloon up.

The biting bugs, you do see snakes quite a bit. That was the number one thing when I moved here. I was always looking down in the grass. That's another con, by the way. The grass here in Texas sucks. I hate this thick crabgrass or whatever they call it, and they always cut it pretty long or else it dies, so it's hard to play in. I miss my Kentucky bluegrass, so that's why I put turf in my backyard.

You do, I was always looking down for snakes, and over time you kind of get over it, like, okay, they're not out there everywhere you look all the time. But snakes, bugs, got a bug in my ear right now. They're just going to be life. The thing I hate the most is they leave all these just dirt webs, track, all this crap in the edges of your garages, your house, outside of your house. You're constantly having to clean that stuff up to keep things clean.

Property Taxes and Insurance: The Real Monthly Cost

Last but not least, the number one con. I know it's super affordable here with the bigger homes. You got a lot of really good jobs here. The top schools. It's an incredible place to live, but man oh man, do the insurances and property tax eat at you.

I get it, it is so amazing here that you don't have state income tax, but it just hurts when you look at that monthly mortgage statement and it seems like 7/8 of it goes to all taxes and insurances. That is one thing here that can really eat you up. The price of that home looks amazing, but you have to factor in so much.

This is where we really have deep dives with you, because a $500,000 house in one area could, just for an example, could be $3,000 a month mortgage. And in another area, it could be $2,000, or $4,500 and $3,100 over here. It has to do with property tax rates. Those are things that you really need to factor in, is the insurance cost of those areas. The property tax, because that can really start to eat you up.

With that, you're not assigning the value to your house. A trusted real estate agent or appraiser is not. It is a desktop appraisal. They can just set your house at whatever price they want. Texas has it screwed up. It sounds like they're starting to work really hard at fixing this, but you're going to really notice those property taxes and the insurances here in Texas.

Conclusion

All in all, one of the most incredible places to live with so much to do and top schools and super affordable. Did you ever think that Houston, Texas was this pretty? I didn't. You need to find your dream spot. We're the matchmakers and we love it. With over 1,000 clients that we've helped, we can do the same with you.

If you're moving to Houston, reach out. We help hundreds of families every year find the Houston suburb that best matches their lifestyle. Whether you're looking for local schools, new construction, mature neighborhoods, luxury homes, acreage, or the best value, we've got you covered. We can make that transition so much easier on you. Contact us day, nights, weekends whenever you want. We never stop working for you.