Moving from Dallas, Texas, to Orlando, Florida

Moving from Dallas, TX, to Orlando, FL

Moving from Dallas, Texas, to Orlando, Florida? What a fun adventure! Why? Well, the most obvious reason is Disney World, but there are tons of other reasons, as well. Keep reading to find out why your new home in Orange County is going to be the perfect place to begin a new life chapter.

Fun Facts about Orlando

  • Orlando’s nickname is “The City Beautiful.”
  • It’s one of the most visited tourist destinations in the entire world (with more than 68 million visitors in 2016).
  • Mid-90’s pop bands NSYNC and Backstreet Boys both had their beginnings in Orlando. 

Notable Differences between Dallas and Orlando

Cost of living: The cost of living will be higher than it was in Dallas, but not by much: only 1.2%. Housing and food/groceries are more expensive in Orlando. However, health care costs and utilities are cheaper in your new city. 

Weather: Orlando gets about 20 more inches of rain per year than Dallas. Summers average about three or four degrees cooler than the Lone Star State, and winters stay about ten degrees warmer. There’s no doubt you’ll enjoy your new climate!

Population: Dallas’s population of 1.3 million greatly surpasses Orlando’s roughly 271,000.  That’s just the city proper, though — the overall metro area is home to just under two and a half million.

Sales Tax: This is a nice change: you’re moving from a sales tax of 8.25% to a lower sales tax rate of 6.5%!

Any Similarities to Dallas?

Age: The average age of the two cities is nearly identical: Orlando’s is 33, and Dallas’s is 32.2!

Job Prospects: The unemployment rate is the same in both cities (3.9%), and that’s below the national average. 

Income Tax: One thing that residents of the Lone Star State enjoy is paying zero income tax.  Don’t worry — you’ll find the same thing in Florida!

Anything I Should Know About My New City?

Real Estate: This is the time to buy. Over the past ten years, homes in Orlando have actually been depreciating, and are just starting to appreciate in value. It’s definitely a buyer’s market! Because of that, people tend to buy homes in The City Beautiful much younger than the rest of the United States (the average home buyer is in their mid-twenties). 

Orlando’s Job Market Overview

Good news here: job growth is positive! It’s expected to stay on the up-and-up for the next decade, too. Technology, research, healthcare and tourism are some of the area’s major employers. Two Air Force bases and the Kennedy Space Center are nearby and feed greatly into the local job market, as does the Central Florida Research Park, which is a focus point for training and simulation programs for the U.S. military. 

The film and television industries are also very important segments of Orlando’s economy and job market. This makes sense, given that Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Universal Studios, and Ripley Entertainment, Inc. are all housed here. A growing presence in the entertainment business is nearby Full Sail University, which offers first-rate programs in computer animation, show production, video game design and other entertainment-related fields.   

Getting an Education in Orlando

If you’re moving with children, you can choose among multiple private schools in the area (both religious and non-religious), or take advantage of the Orange County Public Schools.  The OCPS system is good at what they do — they currently have a 93.8% high school graduation rate!

For higher education, you’ve got numerous options. More than thirty colleges and universities have campuses in Orlando and the surrounding metro area. These range from seminaries, technology schools, law schools, art and design programs, film/entertainment degrees, culinary studies, community colleges and much more. The most popular place of study is University of Central Florida, which has the largest student enrollment of any university in the United States. 

Orlando and Extreme Weather

Orlando does have a higher hurricane risk than Dallas, considering that Florida is sandwiched between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. But due to its inland location, Orlando is much better protected from major tropical storms than other popular cities in The Sunshine State. Most hurricanes have weakened by the time they make landfall and move up towards Orlando. However, you will need to pay close attention to the weather channel during hurricane season (early June through late November).

How to get from Dallas, Texas, to Orlando, Florida

This is the easy part:  let U-Pack® take care of it for you!  U-Pack has a few different options for moving you, but here’s the most common:

  • You pack up your things at your house in Dallas.
  • U-Pack drives to Orlando.
  • You unpack into your new dream home!
  • Or you can save money by loading or unloading at one of our service centers.

Storage is also available, and we can refer you to loading/unloading help. For information on to get your household moved to Orlando, get a free online quote or call 844-362-5303844-594-3077 and ask how U-Pack® can get you started on your journey!