People land in Midland from all over, usually for work, and then spend the first few weeks figuring out how the place actually runs. This is the practical version of that: what the city is, how to get your utilities on, and how the schools and neighborhoods are laid out.
Midland sits in the middle of the Permian Basin in West Texas, about halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso, with roughly 141,000 people. It is a city built around the energy industry, which shapes a lot of things here: the job market, the pace of the housing market, and the fact that new people are arriving all the time. If you are one of them, here is the groundwork.
What Midland Is Like
The city covers a lot of flat ground, and most of daily life happens by car. Loop 250 wraps the north and west sides and is the road most people orient by; Interstate 20 runs along the south edge and is how you get to Odessa, about 20 miles west. Downtown holds the office towers, the county courthouse, and a growing cluster of restaurants and bars, while most of the retail and newer housing has spread north and west along Loop 250.
Summers are hot and dry, with stretches well into the 90s and 100s, and the wind is a real feature of spring. Winters are short and mild by most standards. Locals will tell you the two things newcomers underestimate are the sun and the distance between places.
On the money side, Texas has no state income tax, and the combined sales tax rate in Midland is 8.25 percent. Housing and everyday costs generally sit at or below national averages, though electricity bills climb in the summer for obvious reasons. For current rents, home prices and what to budget, see our guide to the cost of living in Midland.
Getting Your Utilities Turned On
This is usually the first real task. Midland splits across a few different providers, so plan on setting up more than one account.
Water, wastewater, and trash run through the City of Midland. You open the account with the city’s utility billing office, and water, sewer, and curbside garbage all land on one monthly statement. You will generally need a government-issued photo ID and your full service address, and there is a deposit and application fee for residential accounts. The city runs an online customer portal at waterbill.midlandtexas.gov. Give it a few business days to activate.
Electricity works differently in Midland than in a lot of the country. Oncor owns and maintains the poles and wires that deliver power to your house, but you choose a separate retail electric provider to actually buy the electricity from. That means you shop for a plan rather than being assigned one. Oncor is who you call about an outage; your retail provider is who you call about the bill.
Natural gas is handled by Atmos Energy for most Midland residential customers. This one can take a few days and may need a scheduled appointment for a technician to turn the meter on, so start it early.
Internet and trash pickup schedules vary by address. City sanitation runs twice-weekly curbside collection on either a Monday and Thursday or a Tuesday and Friday schedule depending on where you live, and the city will tell you which when you set up service.
How the Neighborhoods Are Laid Out
Midland’s housing stock reads roughly by era and by direction. The older, established neighborhoods sit closer to the center of town, near the museum district and the original residential grid, where you get mature trees, larger lots, and mid-century houses within reach of downtown. Newer construction has pushed north and northwest beyond Loop 250, where the subdivisions are larger and the houses are newer.
Because the market here moves with the energy cycle, inventory and prices can shift faster than in a lot of cities. Locals who have been through a few cycles tend to suggest renting first if your job situation is new, then buying once you know which side of town your commute favors. Which neighborhood suits you usually comes down to three things: which school attendance zone you want, how far you are willing to drive to work, and whether you want an older house or a newer one.
Schools
Midland Independent School District is the public district and serves roughly 28,000 students across elementary, middle, and high school campuses. Attendance zones are tied to your address, so if schools are a deciding factor, check the zone before you sign a lease or a contract rather than after.
There are also several long-running private and charter options in town:
- Trinity School of Midland, a private college-preparatory school serving roughly 765 students in PreK through 12th grade, with a full slate of interscholastic sports.
- Midland Christian School, a private K through 12 school with a college-prep curriculum plus fine arts, music, foreign language, and athletics.
- Midland Classical Academy, which runs a classical curriculum that includes logic, rhetoric, and Latin.
Enrollment timelines and admissions requirements differ at each, and the private schools generally work on an application calendar rather than open enrollment, so contact them directly and early.
Midland College sits in town as well, with two-year degrees, workforce programs, and continuing education, and the University of Texas Permian Basin is a short drive west in Odessa.
Getting Plugged In
The part nobody hands you in a relocation packet is how to stop feeling new. A few starting points that work here:
The Midland County Public Library is free, air conditioned, and full of programming for kids. The parks system is the cheapest way to get familiar with the geography, and our guide to parks in Midland covers where to start. The museums downtown, including the Museum of the Southwest and the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, are the fastest way to understand why this city exists, and we walk through them in our guide to museums in Midland.
If you would rather meet people by doing something useful, volunteering in Midland lays out the organizations that regularly need hands. And if you just want a place to sit and read the room for an hour, our guide to coffee shops in Midland is a reasonable first stop.
Next in Living in Midland
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Midland, Texas a good place to live?
That depends on what you want out of a city. Midland offers no state income tax, housing and everyday costs at or below national averages, and a job market anchored by the energy industry. It is a driving city with hot summers and limited public transit, so most newcomers weigh those tradeoffs against the cost of living.
What is the cost of living in Midland, Texas?
Overall costs generally run near or slightly below national averages, with housing typically the biggest advantage. Utilities can run higher in summer because of air conditioning demand. Texas has no state income tax, and Midland’s combined sales tax rate is 8.25 percent.
What school district serves Midland, Texas?
Midland Independent School District serves the city and enrolls roughly 28,000 students. Campus assignment is based on your home address, so check the attendance zone for any address you are considering. Private options include Trinity School of Midland, Midland Christian School, and Midland Classical Academy.
How do I set up utilities when moving to Midland?
Set up water, wastewater, and trash through the City of Midland utility billing office. Electricity is delivered by Oncor but purchased from a retail electric provider you choose. Natural gas is handled by Atmos Energy. Start all three at least a week before your move-in date.
How far is Midland from Odessa?
About 20 miles west along Interstate 20, typically a 25 to 30 minute drive. The two cities share an airport, Midland International Air and Space Port, which sits between them.
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