Like metro Atlanta, DFW's job base is spread across several distinct corporate clusters rather than one downtown core — worth mapping before you pick a neighborhood, since it's the difference between a short commute and an hour on the tollway. Beyond the employers already covered on individual city guides (Toyota, JCPenney, and Frito-Lay in Plano; the PGA of America and the Dallas Cowboys' The Star in Frisco; American Airlines in Fort Worth), a few of the largest, by no means exhaustive:
One correction worth flagging if you've seen it elsewhere: ExxonMobil is not a DFW employer — its headquarters campus is in Spring, Texas, in the Houston metro, roughly 300 miles away. And while Boeing has a Global Services regional office in Plano and a supply-chain center in Irving, its actual corporate and defense-division headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia and (as of a February 2026 move) St. Louis, Missouri — not DFW.
New Texas residents have 90 days from the date they move to Texas to get a Texas driver's license through the Department of Public Safety (DPS) — a longer window than some states. You'll need two documents showing your name and current Texas address (one of which must show at least 30 days at that address), such as a utility bill, lease or mortgage statement, or pay stub, plus standard identity documentation. DPS's own "Moving to Texas" guide is the authoritative checklist, since documentation requirements can change.
Vehicles need to be registered in Texas within 30 days of establishing residency, through TxDMV, and out-of-state vehicles require a VIN inspection performed by a law-enforcement auto-theft investigator before registration.
Texas's standard motor vehicle sales/use tax is 6.25% of the vehicle's value — but new residents get a better deal: a flat $90 "New Resident Tax" applies in lieu of that percentage-based tax, as long as the vehicle was already titled in the new resident's own name in another state before the move. This is a genuinely different mechanic from Georgia's TAVT (Title Ad Valorem Tax), which is value-based even for new residents at a reduced rate — Texas's new-resident tax is flat regardless of the vehicle's value, so it's a comparatively better deal for someone bringing a higher-value vehicle into the state. It must be paid within 30 calendar days of the vehicle's first use in Texas; miss that window, or can't show prior out-of-state title in your own name, and the standard 6.25% tax applies instead.
Texas eliminated the traditional annual safety-inspection sticker for non-commercial vehicles statewide, effective January 1, 2025 — you no longer need a separate safety inspection to register a personal vehicle. Emissions testing is a different matter and continues in specific counties, including all four DFW counties our guides cover: Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton (along with five more DFW-area counties: Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, and Rockwall). Gasoline vehicles roughly 2–24 years old need annual emissions testing starting at the second registration anniversary; electric vehicles, diesels, motorcycles, and mopeds are exempt. The "Two Steps, One Sticker" program combines the emissions test and registration renewal into one process, with a single windshield sticker at the end.
Texas requires voter registration at least 30 days before an election. Unlike some states, Texas does not have automatic or opt-out voter registration — DPS is required to offer you the chance to register (or update your registration) when you get or renew a driver's license, but you have to affirmatively opt in. Registration is otherwise handled at the county level, by paper application or in person, and you can check your status through the Texas Secretary of State's "Am I Registered?" tool.
Texas has no state personal income tax, and has since 2019 as a constitutional matter — the Texas Constitution bars the legislature from imposing one without a future constitutional amendment approved by both a two-thirds legislative vote and a statewide referendum. That's a real, durable benefit, but it isn't a free lunch: Texas funds state and local government more heavily through property and sales tax as a result, and DFW's effective property tax rate (Section 5 of our property tax guide) runs meaningfully higher than in many income-tax states. Whether the net tradeoff favors you depends on your income level, home price, and the specific taxing jurisdictions layered on your address — not something we'd reduce to a single "Texas saves you money" claim.
The employer locations in Section 1 are verified against company and government sources as of this page's last-verified date, but companies relocate, merge, and expand over time — the AT&T/Plano move flagged above is a live example worth rechecking as 2028 approaches. Texas's vehicle-inspection rules in particular have changed more than once in recent years, so we plan to re-verify Sections 2 through 5 periodically. If you spot something on this page that's out of date, or notice a broken link, we'd like to know — see our contact information.