Austin, Jacksonville, Fort Worth, Columbus, and Charlotte: Moving to America's 11th Through 15th Largest Cities

If you are weighing a move to one of these five cities, you are choosing among places that all sit near the one-million mark and all grew between 2020 and 2025, but that hand you very different paperwork once you arrive. By the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025, Jacksonville is the 11th largest city in the country, Austin 12th, Charlotte 14th, and Columbus, Ohio, 15th. Fort Worth is the exception to the title’s range: its growth carried it to 10th, and San Jose, not named here, sits at 13th.

City	Rank, 2025	Population, July 1, 2025	Growth since April 2020	Metro price level, 2024 (US = 100)	Metro housing rents, 2024 (US = 100)
Austin	12	1,002,632	44,481	98.1	120.4
Jacksonville	11	1,017,689	68,082	99.5	109.8
Fort Worth	10	1,028,117	109,225	103.1	117.9
Columbus, Ohio	15	938,396	32,181	95.5	87.9
Charlotte	14	964,784	90,076	97.3	97.6

The growth column subtracts each city’s April 1, 2020 estimates base from its July 1, 2025 estimate in the same Census table. The price figures are the Bureau of Economic Analysis 2024 regional price parities, released in February 2026 and read from the St. Louis Fed’s metro table. BEA revises earlier years, so the 2023 figures in Table 4 of its December 2024 release belong to an earlier vintage and are not set against these. The 2024 figures measure whole metro areas, and Fort Worth has no metro figure of its own: BEA counts it inside the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, so its row repeats that area’s numbers.

Austin: Rents Above the Other Texas Metros, and One Utility Account for Several Services

Austin’s housing figure stands out in this table. At 120.4 in 2024, rents in the Austin metro priced well above the national level, while the overall price level, 98.1, sat slightly below it. In BEA’s terms, Austin is close to average on prices in general and well above it on rent. Among the five metros here, only Austin’s housing figure is above 120, and it is also higher than the 2024 housing figures for the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio metros.

The utility setup is simpler than the number of services suggests. The City of Austin Utilities page on Austin Energy’s site describes a single customer service line for “electric, water, solid waste, and recycling services with the City of Austin” and says the city “provides public utilities to residents of Austin and some surrounding areas.” In practice, one request to the city can cover several services at a new address, and the same page lists deposits and initiation fees among the topics its customer care handles, so ask about both when you schedule the start date.

Summer heat is the other Austin planning factor, and the recent decades count more 100-degree days than the long record does. The National Weather Service’s Austin-area ranking sheet, updated July 2026, lists an average of 29 days a year at 100 degrees or more for 1991 to 2020, against 15 for the full record that begins in 1897, with the average first 100-degree day of that 30-year period on July 4 and the last on August 30. A loading day in July or August falls inside that stretch.

Austin’s county matters for your car, and the city spans more than one. The City of Austin’s District 6 page says about sixty percent of that council district’s residents live in Williamson County, so an Austin address can be in Williamson as well as Travis. Texas dropped the safety inspection for non-commercial vehicles in 2025, but, as the Fort Worth section explains, both Travis and Williamson are counties where an emissions test is still required before registration; check the county of your actual address when you register.

Jacksonville: Florida’s Deposit Rule Runs on Two Clocks

Florida’s deposit statute separates a clean move-out from a disputed one, and the difference sets how long you wait. Under Florida Statutes section 83.49, if the landlord “does not intend to impose a claim on the security deposit,” the deposit must come back, with any interest that applies, within 15 days after the rental agreement ends. If the landlord does intend to keep part of it, the landlord has 30 days to send written notice of the claim and the reason, by certified mail to your last known mailing address or by e-mail as the statute allows.

That notice starts your own clock. The statute’s required wording tells the tenant to object in writing “within 15 days after the time you receive this notice” or the landlord may deduct the claim. A landlord who misses the 30-day notice deadline, the same subsection says, “forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit” and may not set off damages against it. For someone leaving a Jacksonville apartment for another city, the practical step is to leave the landlord a mailing address and an e-mail you check for the month after you go, because the objection window is counted from receipt.

The same statute also gives you something to look for at move-in. Under subsection (2), the landlord must, in the lease or within 30 days after receiving the deposit, give you written notice that discloses how the advance rent or security deposit is being held, and must notify you again within 30 days if the manner or location changes. If that notice has not arrived a month after you pay, ask for it; it tells you where your money is during the lease.

Jacksonville is also on the Atlantic coast, inside the Atlantic hurricane season that the National Hurricane Center dates from June 1 to November 30. If your move falls in late summer or early fall, build a buffer day into the delivery window and confirm in writing how your mover handles weather delays. On price, the Jacksonville metro sat close to the national level in 2024, at 99.5 overall and 109.8 for housing rents.

Fort Worth: No Safety Inspection, but an Emissions Test

Fort Worth passed the one-million mark during this period: the Census table shows 918,892 residents in the April 2020 base and 1,028,117 on July 1, 2025, a gain of 109,225, the largest of these five cities.

For newcomers bringing a car, Texas changed its inspection rules in 2025. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles registration page says, “As of January 1, 2025, non-commercial vehicles are no longer required to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration.” The same page lists 17 counties where non-commercial vehicles “must still obtain a passing emissions inspection” before registration: Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Ellis, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, and Williamson. Several of those counties surround Fort Worth, so check the county of your Fort Worth address against the list; if it is listed, an emissions test comes before your Texas plates, and the 30-day registration window that the TxDMV’s New to Texas page gives new residents still applies. An older Texas moving checklist that tells you to get a safety inspection first is out of date for a personal car. Not every car needs the test: the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s emissions program page says gasoline vehicles from 2 through 24 years old are inspected annually and that electric vehicles, diesel vehicles, motorcycles, and mopeds are not required to be inspected. The county list above is the one the TxDMV page showed in October 2026; the same TCEQ page adds Bexar County, around San Antonio, from November 1, 2026.

Because BEA counts Fort Worth inside the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, the price figures in the table are the same ones that describe Dallas: 103.1 overall and 117.9 for housing rents in 2024. They do not show whether Fort Worth itself rents for less than Dallas, and no figure in that table separates the two.

Columbus, Ohio: City Income Tax and Who Must File

Columbus levies its own income tax, separate from the state’s. The City of Columbus Income Tax Division’s page for new residents describes “Columbus’ 2.5% municipal income tax” and says, “If you live or work in the City of Columbus, you may be required to file and pay Columbus municipal income tax. Filing with the City is separate from filing your federal and State of Ohio taxes.”

The page also addresses residents who work in another city, pointing them to how tax credits work and telling them that “you’ll never pay more than 2.5% to Columbus for municipal income tax.” Owing the tax and filing a city return are separate questions. The Income Tax Division’s video transcript on filing says that for a Columbus resident with W-2 income, “If your employer already withholds the full 2.5% from your wages, you don’t need to file a return.” It adds that you will need to file if your employer does not withhold the full rate or if you have additional income from a business or other taxable activity. So check your first pay stubs to see which city’s tax your employer is withholding and at what rate; that answer tells you whether a city return belongs on your list for the first tax year.

Columbus has the lowest housing figure in this table, 87.9 for the metro in 2024, and an overall price level of 95.5. It also grew by 32,181 residents between 2020 and 2025, the smallest gain of the five but still a gain.

Charlotte: Sixty Days for the License, Possibly Less for the Car

North Carolina gives new residents one headline deadline and one that can arrive sooner. The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles says that within 60 days of establishing a permanent residence, “if you plan to operate a motor vehicle, you must get a North Carolina driver license, as well as title and register your vehicles” with the state DMV. The same page adds that you must register your vehicle when you accept gainful employment or when the reciprocity period between North Carolina and your previous state runs out, whichever comes first, and it describes that reciprocity period as usually 30 days. If you are moving to Charlotte for a job, the registration clock may start when you accept the job rather than at the 60-day mark.

The insurance detail is easy to miss. The DMV page asks for North Carolina vehicle insurance information and notes that out-of-state policies are not accepted, so a policy from your old state will not carry the registration. On inspections, the page says you can initially register a vehicle without one, but North Carolina requires an inspection before the registration can be renewed.

Charlotte’s growth, 90,076 residents between 2020 and 2025, was second only to Fort Worth’s among these five. The Charlotte metro’s price level, 97.3, and housing rents figure, 97.6, were both slightly below the national level in 2024.

The Order to Handle Things in

Start with the deadline that comes first for your city. In Charlotte, line up North Carolina insurance and be ready to register the car once you have accepted the job, then get the license within 60 days. In Fort Worth and Austin, if your address is in one of the listed counties, book the emissions test before the 30-day Texas registration window closes. In Columbus, check your first paycheck for the right city’s withholding: for a resident whose wages carry the full 2.5 percent and who has no other taxable income, the city says no return is needed. And before you leave a Jacksonville apartment, give the landlord a mailing address and e-mail you will watch, because Florida’s 15-day objection window starts when the notice reaches you.