Moving to Lubbock, Texas

Where Lubbock is, and getting around

Lubbock sits on the South Plains of West Texas at about 3,200 feet. By road it is about 121 miles to Amarillo, 119 miles to Midland and Odessa, 321 miles to Albuquerque and 322 miles to Dallas and Fort Worth.

Loop 289 circles the city for about 26 miles, and the Marsha Sharp Freeway (US 82) crosses it east to west. Interstate 27 runs north to Amarillo. In 2024 the state designated the first 4.2 miles of its extension south of Lubbock, part of the Ports-to-Plains corridor.

The street grid is quick to learn. Numbered streets run east and west, counting up as you head south from 1st Street. Going west from Avenue A, the north-south avenues run through the alphabet to Avenue Y (Texas Avenue takes the place of I, and Avenue Q carries US 84), then University Avenue, then city names in alphabetical order: Akron, Boston, Canton and on through Indiana and Memphis.

Citibus runs fixed bus routes Monday to Saturday, with none on Sunday, and an on-demand service booked through its GoPass app.

Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB) has nonstop flights to eight cities.

Property taxes

Texas has no state income tax, and the state levies no property tax of its own. Each local taxing unit sets its own rate, and the Lubbock Central Appraisal District (LCAD) values every property as of January 1.

A home inside the city pays the City of Lubbock, Lubbock County, the Lubbock County Hospital District, the High Plains Water District and its school district. The school district depends on the address, and it makes the biggest difference to the total.

Added up, a home inside the city limits comes to about $1.77 per $100 of value in Lubbock ISD, $2.06 in Frenship ISD and $2.07 in Lubbock-Cooper ISD, before exemptions. A home outside the city limits does not pay the city rate. Rates are set again every fall, so check LCAD for the current year.

If you disagree with your appraised value, the deadline to protest is May 15 or 30 days after LCAD mailed the notice, whichever is later.

Lubbock Central Appraisal District ↗

The homestead exemption

If the home will be your main residence, apply for the residence homestead exemption. School districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead’s value, and owners who are 65 or older or have a disability get another $60,000 off their school taxes. Texas voters approved both amounts in November 2025, and they apply from the 2025 tax year. Owners 65 and older also get a ceiling on their school taxes.

Apply with LCAD on Form 50-114 between January 1 and April 30, in person at 2109 Avenue Q or by email, fax or mail. There is no fee, and the address on your driver’s license or state ID has to match the home. A late application is accepted up to two years after the date the taxes would become delinquent.

Texas Comptroller: property tax exemptions ↗

Setting up utilities

Electricity: Lubbock Power & Light joined the ERCOT grid in December 2023, and since 2024 homes on its system buy power from a retail electric provider they choose, usually through PowerToChoose.org. LP&L still owns the lines and meters and handles outages. Some homes on the edges of the county are served by South Plains Electric Cooperative or Xcel Energy instead.

Water, wastewater, stormwater and trash come from City of Lubbock Utilities on one bill, and you can start service online. Natural gas is Atmos Energy.

Internet providers change from street to street. The FCC National Broadband Map shows which ones serve a specific address.

Power to Choose ↗City of Lubbock Utilities ↗FCC National Broadband Map ↗

Weather, hail and your roof

Lubbock averages 18.33 inches of rain and 7 inches of snow a year, with a mean temperature of 61.4°F, by the National Weather Service’s 1991-2020 normals. May and September are the wettest months.

Spring is severe weather season on the South Plains, and the National Weather Service calls May its heart. Hail is the main risk to a house: in 2025, hail the size of softballs fell in the region on April 29 and again on May 29. High wind and blowing dust happen too. On February 26, 2023, the airport recorded a 77 mph gust.

When you look at a home, ask how old the roof is and what it is made of. Texas insurers can give a discount for impact-resistant roofing, and a Class 4 roof (tested to UL 2218) earns the highest credit, though each insurer sets its own amount. Replacing a roof in Lubbock needs a City permit.

Texas Department of Insurance: roofing discounts ↗

School districts

The school districts serving Lubbock include Lubbock ISD, Frenship ISD and Lubbock-Cooper ISD, with Roosevelt, Idalou, Shallowater and Slaton ISDs around the city. District lines do not follow city limits or neighborhood names, so look up each address you are considering. The district also shows on the property’s LCAD record.

Lubbock ISD attendance zones ↗Frenship ISD school zone finder ↗Lubbock-Cooper ISD attendance maps ↗Texas Education Agency school district locator ↗

Playa lakes and flood zones

Lubbock drains to playa lakes, shallow basins that hold storm water for the city’s 123 square miles. According to the City, its flood zones lie mainly next to the playas and the canyon.

Check any address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you buy. Lubbock takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, which takes 15 percent off flood insurance in the floodplain and 5 percent for some properties outside it. A new flood policy usually takes 30 days to begin.

FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗City of Lubbock floodplain information ↗

Buying a home in Texas

Texas real estate agents use forms from the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), and a resale house is bought on its One to Four Family Residential Contract. It gives the buyer an option period, a number of days the buyer and seller agree on, in return for an option fee paid to the seller within three days. During that period the buyer can end the contract for any reason with notice by 5 p.m.; the seller keeps the option fee and the earnest money goes back to the buyer.

The option period is the time for inspections, repair quotes and an insurance quote. Additions, remodels that touch the structure, wiring or plumbing, re-roofs and pools deeper than 24 inches all need a City of Lubbock permit, so ask the seller about permits for past work.

Buying a home in Lubbock ↗

Hospitals and universities

Lubbock has two large hospital campuses: UMC Health System’s University Medical Center at 602 Indiana Avenue and Covenant Medical Center at 3615 19th Street.

Texas Tech University enrolled 46,296 students in fall 2026. The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Lubbock Christian University are also in the city, and South Plains College has its main campus in Levelland, west of Lubbock.

Places to know

• Mackenzie Park, with Prairie Dog Town (there since 1937), Meadowbrook Golf Course, disc golf and the Canyon Run Dog Park
• The Buddy Holly Center, in the old Fort Worth and Denver railway depot on Crickets Avenue
• The National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech, with 55 ranch buildings from the 1780s to the 1950s on 19 acres
• Lubbock Lake Landmark, a 336-acre archaeological preserve with about 12,000 years of record
• The Depot District, part of the state-designated Lubbock Cultural District
• The vineyards of the Texas High Plains wine region, which grows more than 80 percent of the state’s wine grapes

Lubbock neighborhoods ↗Homes for sale in Lubbock ↗