With a bustling urban environment full of music, culture, and nightlife, as well as sprawling green spaces and progressive communities, Austin is predicted to be the next big boom town of the United States.
Homeowners are picking up their lives and moving to this charming southern city like wildfire, making it the third-fastest growing city in the country. If you’re considering a move to ATX and want to pursue or continue a career in home improvement, we’ve come up with some of the most popular local home improvement jobs to help you begin your new life in Austin.
Sustainable building
One of the hottest trends in the American home improvement industry is sustainable building. Contracting professionals of all kinds are changing the way they design, build, and maintain homes in order to increase energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint.
Austin is at the forefront of sustainable building, with many firms performing low-carbon building projects for both residential and corporate sites across the city. There are several Austin-based sustainable construction businesses currently advertising positions for design and performance consultants, sales team members, and more.
At the forefront of Austin’s sustainable building movement is TreeHouse, Inc., an innovative company that focuses on creating sustainable builds and healthy homes through design (including flooring, paint, and remodeling projects) and performance (windows, insulation, roofing, solar, and even installation of Tesla’s Powerwall 2). TreeHouse is the first company in the world to install the Tesla Powerwall, which only costs homeowners around $6,100 and an additional $55 monthly when purchased with solar.
Solar power and energy efficiency
Texas currently ranks at number nine on the Solar Energy Industries Association’s list of top solar states in the United States. This statistic is enough to make many solar professionals consider a move to the Lone Star State, but there’s more—Texas is also third on the list of top solar job providers.
With solar installation costs at an all-time low (currently around $16,000 on average before tax incentives in ATX), more Austinites are now switching to renewable energy for their homes than ever before, and solar companies are always looking for talented engineers and roofing specialists to join their teams.
Freedom Solar Power, Longhorn Solar, and the Texas Solar Power Company all have branches in the heart of Austin and are joined by dozens of other local and national renewable energy providers. Plus, the Webberville Solar Farm is located to the east of the city.
Landscaping and outdoor home improvement
Even if you know nothing about Austin, you know that it’s going to be hot there. With an annual average high temperature of nearly 80 degrees (and an average high of 97 for the month of August), Austin is one of the hottest cities in the country. If you’re a contractor with specialist skills in outdoor home improvements, you’ll have no trouble finding a job here. Extensive landscaping work, pool installations, decking maintenance and repairs, and even summer house upgrades are at the top of Austinites’ outdoor home improvement lists.
Homeowners in the Austin area currently pay around $2,800 to install wooden decking, while a 12’ x 24’ inground Gunite concrete pool costs around $34,000, so this area of work can potentially be quite lucrative if you play your cards right and make connections early on.
Other home improvement jobs
If your particular skill set includes marketing, social media, or sales, there are several web-based home improvement companies that are taking Austin’s construction world by storm.
Modernize Windows is an online matchmaker that connects homeowners with contractors. Careers in marketing, social media, and sales for Modernize and other web-based companies across the city are currently available and can help you develop your specialized skills in any or all of these areas. If you need more guidance, check with the City of Austin’s housing department website for links to city housing, potential internships, and other home improvement news.
