You've done the math on leaving California, and The Colony keeps landing near the top of the list. Maybe your company relocated to the DFW Metroplex. Maybe you've watched your California equity pile up and realized it buys something extraordinary in Denton County. Whatever the reason, the corridor between California and Texas is now the largest state-to-state migration flow in the country — roughly 94,000 Californians made the move in 2023 alone, according to the Texas Realtors Fall 2024 Relocation Report — and The Colony is one of the suburbs drawing them. It sits along roughly 23 miles of Lewisville Lake shoreline, about 35 minutes to Dallas via SH-121, in a city of 46,196 people that feels nothing like the DFW suburbs you may have imagined.
The economic picture is straightforward: Texas levies zero state income tax, property is a fraction of California prices, and the local job base stretches across municipal government, education, major retail at Grandscape, and a meaningful commuter draw toward Plano and Dallas financial services. The Lewisville Independent School District, which holds a B rating, according to the Texas Education Agency, serves the city and 46,428 students enrolled in 2025-26. The Colony High School's Cougars run active UIL athletics programs, and Friday night football draws a genuinely community crowd in a way that Californians who grew up in suburban sprawl often find surprising.
The lifestyle shift is real and worth understanding before you make an offer. The Colony is suburban Texas, not a walkable urban neighborhood — most errands happen by car, and the dining and entertainment gravity is centered on the Grandscape district along SH-121. The city carries a typical home price of $404,746 as of July 2026, which lands well below what most Californians paid back home. The catch, which this guide will explain in detail, is that Texas property taxes and homeowner's insurance costs are both meaningfully higher than you were paying in California, and the climate is a genuine adjustment.
Whether you're comparing spreadsheets or already have a moving date, the sections below break down what Californians specifically need to understand about home prices and taxes, the full cost picture, how the weather and lifestyle differ, what the schools and neighborhoods look like, and what daily life is actually like once you arrive.
The Home Price Reality: Your California Equity Goes a Long Way
California's statewide typical home value of $773,735 (Zillow ZHVI) is the number most Californians are working from when they start comparing. The Colony's typical home price stands at $404,746 as of July 2026 — noticeably below that California figure, and for buyers arriving with equity from a California sale, the gap can mean buying without stretching, putting money into renovations, or simply carrying a smaller mortgage.
What that price buys here is also different in character. The Colony's housing stock trends toward newer construction: planned neighborhoods with community amenities, lake access, and family-scale square footage that would be significantly harder to find at this price point in most California markets. Areas like The Tribute and Stewart Peninsula sit above the city median and draw buyers who want proximity to Lewisville Lake with higher-end finishes. Ridgepointe and Northpointe offer comparable quality, with Northpointe roughly at the city median — a meaningful entry point into a well-maintained suburb.
One number worth internalizing before you tour: the median household income in The Colony is $114,511, and that income level sits just below what a lender's standard guidelines would require to comfortably carry the typical home at current rates. That does not mean the move is out of reach — it means buyers arriving with California equity and a healthy down payment are in a structurally different position than a first-time buyer starting from scratch locally. Your equity is the variable that changes the math. For more on the full cost picture, including utilities and transportation, see the cost of living page.
For buyers considering nearby cities: Frisco prices run noticeably higher than The Colony's, while Lewisville and Little Elm come in at about the same level. If your priority is maximizing space and quality per dollar while staying in the northern DFW corridor, The Colony competes well against all three.
| City | Price vs. The Colony | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| The Colony | Baseline ($404,746, July 2026) | Families Value |
| Frisco | Noticeably higher | Luxury School |
| Lewisville | About the same | Commuter First-Time |
| Little Elm | About the same | Nature Families |
| Plano | — | Tech Commuter |
| Carrollton | — | Value Transit |
The nearby-city price comparisons use the fact sheet's qualitative verdicts; see the cost of living page for sourced figures on each.
Taxes: Where Texas Wins and Where It Doesn't
The income tax shift is the one Californians talk about most, and it deserves the direct treatment. Texas levies zero state income tax — it is constitutionally prohibited. California's top state income tax rate of 13.3% applies only to the highest earners, but California's progressive brackets mean that a household at The Colony's median income was paying a meaningful state income tax bill in California every year. That bill drops to zero the day you establish Texas residency. The exact savings depends on your income level and filing status, but for dual-income households in the $114,511 range, the annual difference is noticeable enough to change a monthly budget.
The property tax picture is more complicated, and this is where Californians often get their first real surprise. The Colony's effective property tax rate is 1.86% — well above California's effective property tax rate of 0.71% (Tax Foundation). More important than the rate comparison is the structural difference: California's Proposition 13 caps annual assessment increases at 2% from your purchase price, which is why longtime California owners often pay property taxes on values set decades ago. Texas has no equivalent protection. Your home is reassessed at current market value every year, which means your tax bill rises as the neighborhood appreciates. A buyer who purchased a Texas home five years ago does not carry the Prop 13 cushion that kept their California neighbor's bill flat.
On sales tax, the comparison actually tilts toward Texas. California's statewide base sales tax rate of 7.25% is the highest base rate in the country, and local additions in some California cities push combined rates above 10%. Texas's base rate is 6.25%, with local additions capped at a combined 8.25% maximum — meaning most purchases you make in The Colony will carry a lower sales tax rate than what you paid in California.
The Insurance Offset
Homeowner's insurance is the cost Californians most consistently underestimate. Texas averages around $4,400 per year for homeowner's coverage — a figure that reflects real hail and storm exposure in North Texas. Run that figure alongside your property tax estimate and income tax savings before you finalize your budget, because the insurance line alone can shift the monthly picture meaningfully.
The honest framing: you will likely pay less in total state and local taxes in The Colony than you did in California, particularly on income. You will pay more in property taxes relative to home value, and you will pay more for homeowner's insurance than the California average. Run all three numbers together before you finalize your budget.
| Tax / Cost Category | California | The Colony, TX | Who Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| State income tax | California's top state income tax rate of 13.3%; progressive from 1% | 0% — constitutionally prohibited | Texas, clearly |
| Effective property tax rate | California's effective property tax rate of 0.71% | 1.86% | California on rate; Texas on assessment structure for new buyers |
| Prop 13 / assessment cap | 2% annual cap from purchase price | No cap — annual market-value reassessment | California for long-term owners |
| Statewide base sales tax | California's statewide base sales tax rate of 7.25% | 6.25% base; 8.25% max combined | Texas |
| Homeowner's insurance (avg.) | Lower on average than Texas | ~$4,400/yr average | California |
Climate and Lifestyle: The Adjustments Nobody Warns You About
Six months after arriving from coastal California, most transplants say the same thing: they expected Texas to be hot, but they did not expect how long the heat lasts, how humid August actually is, or what a North Texas ice storm does to a city built without the infrastructure to handle it. The Colony gets 228 sunny days a year — genuinely more sun than most of the country — but those summer days regularly hit average highs near 97°F, with humidity that makes outdoor afternoons feel significantly warmer. Plan your AC budget before you close.
The other side of the adjustment is North Texas's severe weather profile. Tornadoes, large hail, and winter ice storms are not rare events — they are annual planning considerations. Californians moving from earthquake country are not moving away from natural hazards; they are trading one risk profile for a substantially different one. A good storm shelter plan and the right homeowner's coverage matter here in ways they simply don't in most California neighborhoods.
What The Colony Does Better Than Most DFW Suburbs
The outdoor access is genuinely unusual for a suburb of this size. The Colony's position along Lewisville Lake gives residents boating, fishing, and camping options that most DFW cities can't match. Stewart Creek Park and The Colony Lakefront Park both sit at the water's edge, and the lake trail system draws cyclists and walkers year-round — or at least for the months when the temperature cooperates.
Grandscape is the city's other anchor and the reason The Colony has a retail and entertainment scene that punches above its 46,196-person weight. The $1.5 billion, 433-acre district along SH-121 holds Nebraska Furniture Mart, SCHEELS, Topgolf, and a concentration of dining options that make it a regional draw rather than just a neighborhood amenity. The city was designated a Music Friendly Texas Certified Community in December 2024, which reflects ongoing investment in live entertainment programming there.
Daily life runs on a car. On-foot access is limited to whatever is immediately adjacent to your neighborhood, and most residents drive for groceries, dining, and most other errands. Californians who came from walkable neighborhoods in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or San Diego will feel this shift most acutely. The Colony is not trying to be a walkable city — it is a well-executed suburban lake community, and buyers who go in with that expectation tend to be satisfied. Those who arrive expecting urban walkability tend to be surprised by month three.
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Schools and Neighborhoods: What California Families Should Know
The Lewisville Independent School District holds a B rating, according to the Texas Education Agency (2025 A-F accountability rating, 2024-25 school year). On 2024-25 state assessments, 54% of students reached math proficiency and 64% reached reading proficiency — figures that are honest about where the district sits relative to DFW's highest-rated suburban systems, while still reflecting a functional, well-resourced district with active UIL athletics programs. The Colony High School's Cougars are the local team, and the community relationship with Friday night football is the kind of thing California transplants either immediately love or take a full season to understand. For a deeper look at individual school ratings and boundary maps, see the schools page.
Families with school-age children should check attendance boundaries carefully before buying. The Colony feeds multiple campuses across a large district, and the boundary lines do not always follow intuitive neighborhood edges. A house one street over from where you planned can feed a different campus — a boundary quirk that matters more here than in a smaller, single-school district.
Where California Buyers Tend to Land
The Tribute and Stewart Peninsula are the two neighborhoods that draw the most attention from out-of-state buyers arriving with California equity. Both sit above the city median, both offer lake proximity, and both feature the master-planned amenities — resort-style pools, golf, trail systems — that feel comparable to the higher-end California communities many transplants are leaving. Austin Ranch and Austin Waters offer a similar planned-community feel at a price point closer to the city median and tend to attract families with kids who want the amenity package without the premium. Ridgepointe and The Legends both run above the median in their own right and are established enough that the landscaping and community character feel settled rather than brand-new. Northpointe sits at roughly the city median and is often where buyers who want the city's overall quality but are watching their number end up. For a full neighborhood breakdown with best-fit profiles, see the neighborhoods page.
Safety is one area where The Colony consistently surprises California transplants who arrive bracing for DFW crime statistics. A violent crime rate of 2 per 1,000 residents and a property crime rate of 13.9 per 1,000 residents both run below both state and national averages. For the full context, see the safety page.
Weekends and Local Favorites: Finding Your Colony Routine
The social geography of The Colony is organized around two things: the lake and Grandscape. On a warm weekend morning, residents are at Stewart Creek Park or The Colony Lakefront Park well before the heat sets in. Hidden Cove Park is the spot for anyone who wants to get a boat in the water. The Lewisville Lake shoreline trails are genuinely one of the better outdoor amenities in the northern DFW corridor, and Californians accustomed to outdoor recreation in their weekend routines tend to adopt them quickly.
For coffee and casual stops, a handful of independent cafés and specialty tea shops serve the city — the kind of spots where regulars know each other and the vibe feels a step removed from the chain-dominated strip centers that define most of North Texas retail.
For dining, Hard Eight BBQ is where you learn what North Texas barbecue actually means — smoked over post oak, ordered by the pound at a pit line, eaten at a picnic table. It is not a restaurant you walk into without a plan. Truck Yard brings an outdoor bar and food-truck format that works particularly well in the shoulder seasons when the temperature is cooperative. Thirsty Lion is the more polished sit-down option when someone visiting from out of state needs a proper restaurant reservation. Seven Doors Kitchen and Cocktails rounds out the scene for anyone who wants a cocktail-forward dining experience.
The Colony's Music Friendly Texas Certified Community designation is reflected in the live entertainment programming at Grandscape, which has become the city's de facto cultural center. For California transplants who spent their weekends at farmers markets, live music venues, or art districts, Grandscape is where The Colony's answer to those impulses is concentrated — it is not identical, but it is more than most DFW suburbs this size can offer.
Health insurance premiums in Texas generally run noticeably below what Californians were paying at equivalent coverage levels, though you will drive farther for specialist care than you may have been accustomed to. That is a trade-off worth understanding before you finalize the move rather than after. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is 18 miles from The Colony — a significant asset for anyone who travels regularly for work or plans to keep connections back to California.
Local Expert Takeaway: The Colony is one of the few DFW suburbs where California equity genuinely resets what ownership looks like — the price gap is real, and the lake access is something most suburbs in this part of Texas can't match. The honest trade is this: you gain significantly on income tax and home price, you give up Prop 13's protection and pay more in property taxes and homeowner's insurance than you expect, and you're committing to suburban car-dependent life in a climate that will surprise you at least twice a year. Buyers who go in eyes open — who budget for Texas property taxes, shop homeowner's insurance before closing, and understand that Grandscape is the entertainment center of this city — tend to plant roots. Buyers who arrive expecting a softer version of California tend to find the first August harder than they planned.
Quick Takeaways & FAQs
✅ Texas levies zero state income tax, and The Colony's typical home price of $404,746 (July 2026) is noticeably below California's statewide typical home value — California equity goes further here than almost anywhere else in the DFW Metroplex.
⚠️ The Colony's effective property tax rate is 1.86% with no Proposition 13-style cap, meaning your assessment rises with market value every year — budget accordingly before you fall in love with a house.
📍 Grandscape, a 433-acre entertainment and retail district along SH-121, is the city's civic center: Hard Eight BBQ, Topgolf, and Nebraska Furniture Mart are all within a single district, which is unusual for a city of 46,196.
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