Moving from Texas to California
At $100,000 a single filer pays $5,055 a year for moving from Texas to California — $421 a month. Texas charges $0 at that income and California charges $5,055, an effective 0.00% against 5.05%.
The gap is not constant. At $50,000 it is $1,040; at $500,000 it is $43,968. Texas levies no individual income tax, so this move introduces a state income tax bill where you had none.
California: tax year 2025 figures. The California amounts shown here are the 2025 brackets, standard deduction and exemptions, published for 2026 because California has not yet published its 2026 inflation-indexed brackets, standard deduction or exemption credits. The 2026 Form 540-ES instructions confirm the structure for 2026 — nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% plus the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax above $1,000,000 — and direct taxpayers to the 2025 standard deduction and exemption credit amounts in the meantime. Source: California Franchise Tax Board, 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules (Form 540 booklet), verified .
The move priced at every income
State income tax in both jurisdictions for tax year 2026, at the standard tiers. Change the filing status to see how the answer moves.
| Income | Texas tax | California tax2025 brackets | Change per year | Change per month | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $0 | $1,040 | +$1,040 | +$87 | 0.00% → 2.08% |
| $75,000 | $0 | $2,775 | +$2,775 | +$231 | 0.00% → 3.70% |
| $100,000 | $0 | $5,055 | +$5,055 | +$421 | 0.00% → 5.05% |
| $150,000 | $0 | $9,705 | +$9,705 | +$809 | 0.00% → 6.47% |
| $250,000 | $0 | $19,005 | +$19,005 | +$1,584 | 0.00% → 7.60% |
| $500,000 | $0 | $43,968 | +$43,968 | +$3,664 | 0.00% → 8.79% |
California: tax year 2025 figures. The California amounts shown here are the 2025 brackets, standard deduction and exemptions, published for 2026 because California has not yet published its 2026 inflation-indexed brackets, standard deduction or exemption credits. The 2026 Form 540-ES instructions confirm the structure for 2026 — nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% plus the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax above $1,000,000 — and direct taxpayers to the 2025 standard deduction and exemption credit amounts in the meantime. Source: California Franchise Tax Board, 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules (Form 540 booklet), verified .
Want a figure for your own income? Open this pair in the moving calculator, which also takes Maryland county and New York City local taxes.
Both states at $100,000
Texas (leaving)
$100,000 · Single · TY2026California (arriving)2025 brackets
$100,000 · Single · TY2026California: tax year 2025 figures. The California amounts shown here are the 2025 brackets, standard deduction and exemptions, published for 2026 because California has not yet published its 2026 inflation-indexed brackets, standard deduction or exemption credits. The 2026 Form 540-ES instructions confirm the structure for 2026 — nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% plus the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax above $1,000,000 — and direct taxpayers to the 2025 standard deduction and exemption credit amounts in the meantime. Source: California Franchise Tax Board, 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules (Form 540 booklet), verified .
How many people make this move
45,447 people moved from Texas to California in 2024, give or take 6,640 — the American Community Survey is a sample, and its margin of error on a flow this size is wide. That makes it the eighth busiest of the 57 routes this site covers.
The traffic runs both ways: 77,161 people moved the other way, from California to Texas, in the same year. That is a net 31,714 toward Texas. The return trip has its own page: moving from California to Texas.
Movers: U.S. Census Bureau, Table 1. State-to-State Migration Flows: 2024 (American Community Survey 1-year estimates) (retrieved 2026-09-23). Universe: population 1 year and over in the united states. Tax figures are computed from each state's own rate schedule and are unrelated to this dataset.
What else changes between Texas and California
Capital gains. A long-term gain meets a top rate of 0.00% in Texas and 13.30% in California.
Texas, today: Texas taxes no individual capital gain. Article VIII, section 24-a of the Texas Constitution, added by H.J.R. 38 in 2019, provides that "The legislature may not impose a tax on the net incomes of individuals, including an individual's share of partnership and unincorporated association income."
California, after the move: California is the plainest statement of the rule in the country and the most expensive. The 2025 Form 540 instructions for line 7a say: "California taxes long and short term capital gains as regular income. No special rate for long term capital gains exists." The top bracket is 12.3%, and a 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income over $1,000,000 takes the top to 13.3% — the highest rate on a long-term gain anywhere in the United States. Compare every state.
Direction of travel. Texas's top rate has not moved since 2021. California's top rate has not moved since 2021. Texas history · California history.
What this does not answer
State income tax only. Property tax, sales tax and housing costs usually matter more to a moving decision than the figures on this page, and none of them is here.
A full year in each state. In the year you move you will normally file part-year returns in both, splitting the income between them, so neither column is what you will actually pay that year.
Rates are tax year 2026. Sources: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and California Franchise Tax Board. How we verify this data · Disclaimer