Texas has seen record migration from California over the years, a trend that shows no sign of slowing down.
Californians flocked to Texas in droves in 2021, which saw a roughly 31% year-over-year increase in such relocations, according to a new study by StorageCafe.
Possible pull factors attracting Californians to Texas include the state’s business-friendly regulatory environment, robust employment opportunities, and lower cost of living. In total, approximately 591,000 people relocated to Texas in 2021, with about 111,000 of them moving from California.
The study shows that California millennials were the most prevalent age group coming to Texas, a migration trend previously covered by The Dallas Express.
In 2021, millennials from California accounted for 46% of all Texas transplants from the state, followed by Gen X (21%), Baby Boomers (15%), and Gen Z (14%), according to the study.
“Based on our research, most Californian millennials are headed to counties anchored by Austin, Houston, and Dallas,” with Travis County ranking as the most preferred relocation destination, StorageCafe reported.
The tech scene in Austin seems particularly attractive to millennials. Dell, Google, Apple, and Oracle all maintain regional campuses in the area. Other major career fields in Texas attracting millennials include finance, education, and healthcare.
While Dallas-Fort Worth has seen its fair share of Californians relocating to the metro area over the years, the population in Dallas proper has actually decreased by 3.36% since the most recent census and is currently declining at an annual rate of 1.13%, according to World Population Review.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, this negative growth has been attributed by Dallas residents to excessive business taxes, the city’s high crime rate, and the prevalence of homelessness and vagrancy — problems Dallas shares with some of the bigger cities in California.
One of the main drivers pushing Californians to Texas is the sharp difference in housing prices and rent, according to StorageCafe.
California’s median home price and rent are nearly $690,000 and $2,500, respectively. Meanwhile, the median home price and rent in Texas are $408,000 and $1,450, respectively, a roughly 70% price difference, with homebuyers in Texas spending about $282,000 less than in California.
“Benefitting from historically friendly fundamentals, Texas offers cheaper housing options than California. But, for how long remains to be seen, as the massive demand that put an extra strain on the market, particularly on in-demand locations, caused substantial price increases,” StorageCafe reported.
Still, the median home value in Texas has risen 54% over the last five years compared to 42% in California, according to current housing data from Zillow.
Home size is also a factor that has reportedly enticed Californians to relocate to Texas. On average, Texas homes are approximately 17% bigger than in California, and apartments are about 6% larger.
“Over the first two decades of the 21st century, the movement of people leaving California for Texas has been well established. No other state has sent more migrants to Texas than California during this time,” said Rogelio Sáenz, a University of Texas at San Antonio professor of demography, per StorageCafe.
“The continual soaring housing prices and cost of living in California and much greater affordability in Texas is likely to sustain the significant flows of Californians toward Texas in the coming decades,” Sáenz said.
The complete study can be viewed here.
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