Austin is fantastic as far as the job market goes but I wouldn't consider it anywhere near cheap unless you want a very long commute into the city or find a job in Round Rock, Buda, or Cedar Park.

Unless you want to live in the ghetto, you won't be able to rent near Midtown for less than $900 for a small one bedroom.

I mean, houston is the same way. I used to live 30-45 mins away and I got a $1200 3br nice house in a nice neighborhood.

I live in Midtown now and a 1br is $1400+. But off at the medical center you can find places that are around $900 for 1br, and sometimes less. And that's 15 minutes (or less) from downtown.

I currently live in Austin, and it's definitely great, but the traffic is killer if you're commuting. A couple of my coworkers live up north in the suburbs, and their commute is 30 min without traffic. With traffic, it's 1-1.5 hours. Live music everywhere though, and lots of interesting eats, like the Austin food trailers.

I like Atlanta mentioned elsewhere in the thread, having lived there for a number of years. Tons of cool stuff to do, and interesting concert venues like the Masquerade and Tabernacle. I lived in Midtown, but even if you don't want to live in the city the suburbs are nice.

People like to make fun of Houston for being a huge sprawl with no zoning regulations, but if you want Texas with more of an Atlanta feel, you'll get your pro sports teams, museums, and mega concert venues there. It's still close enough to go visit Austin for a weekend (only 3ish hours). Houston and Atlanta also have the advantage over Austin in terms of airports and where you can fly direct. Going from Austin means you burn more time with connections and layovers.

If you move to Texas from the south though, you're going to miss the tea. Tea here is cold and unsweetened by default. "Texas sweet tea" isn't as sweet as southern style sweet tea.

I lived in the suburbs about 30 mins from ATL, never worked there but enjoyed it :)