study in Austin
Texas's capital — a fast-growing technology and music city with a major public research university, no state income tax, and costs well below the coastal centres.
Austin has absorbed a large share of the technology industry's migration out of California over the past decade, and the graduate market has widened accordingly — semiconductors, software, and the corporate functions that follow them. It combines that with a genuine cultural identity built on live music.
The University of Texas at Austin is a large, well-funded public research university with strong engineering, computing and business programmes, sitting immediately north of the state capitol.
The financial case is straightforward: Texas levies no state income tax, and living costs — while rising fast — remain well below Seattle or New York. The main physical adjustment is heat: Austin summers routinely run above 35°C for weeks.
One major public research university, plus private and state institutions across central Texas.
The University of Texas at Austin
A large flagship public research university; engineering, computer science, business, geosciences and pharmacy.Texas State University
In San Marcos, 30 miles south; business, education, health professions and engineering technology.St. Edward's University
Small private university in south Austin; business, computer science and the liberal arts.Austin sits mid-range and Texas levies no state income tax, so the money you earn on OPT goes further than in New York or California. Rents have risen sharply with the city's growth but remain well below the coastal centres.
Against the other cities we cover in the United States, Austin is mid-range. That is our reading of this country’s own spread, not a published index.
The United States publishes no national student living-cost figure. The number your visa evidence must satisfy is the cost of attendance printed on your Form I-20.
The practical texture of the place — what a week actually looks like.
Climate
Very hot summers — weeks above 35°C — and mild short winters. Air conditioning is a utility cost, not a luxury.
Getting around
Buses and one commuter rail line; the city is car-oriented. Living near campus or a frequent bus route matters more here than in the coastal cities.
Housing
Mid-range and rising. Shared apartments near campus or in north and east Austin are the usual student route.
Working
20 hours a week on campus during term on an F-1. CPT or OPT authorisation is required before any off-campus work.
Tax
No Texas state income tax. Property and sales taxes are higher instead, which affects renters far less than earners.
Music
A live scene that runs every night of the week, much of it free — the cheapest cultural life of any city on this page.
OPT is 12 months, with a 24-month STEM extension in Texas exactly as everywhere else. Texas offers no immigration advantage — its advantage is entirely fiscal.
The realistic Austin case: mid-range costs, no state income tax, a fast-growing technology market, and a strong public university at public-university tuition. The counterweights are the heat, a car-dependent layout, and a technology market that — while growing — is still shallower than Seattle's or the Bay Area's.
Austin is one of 5 cities we cover in the United States. Tap any pin to compare — the city you pick moves your total cost more than almost any other choice you make.