AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The related video was published in May 2019.
Texas is one of the hottest states to move to and, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U-Haul, that's especially true for Californians.
The 2020 edition of the Texas Relocation Report was released by Texas Realtors on Thursday revealing that Texas ranked second in the U.S. for relocation activity in 2018.
"For the sixth year in a row, more than half a million people chose Texas as their new home," said Cindi Bulla, 2020 chairman of Texas Realtors. “And why not? In addition to its business-friendly environment with no state income tax and abundance of jobs, land and opportunity, Texas is known for its diverse, friendly spirit and culture.”
The report states that 563,945 people moved to Texas in 2019, which is more than the number of out-of-state residents (524,511) who moved here in 2017. The net gain of new residents in Texas in 2018 increased by 78.1% from 57,173 in 2017 to 101,805 residents in 2018.
So, what about the Californians?
The report shows that Texas saw the highest number of new residents moving from California at 86,164. Meanwhile, Texas got 37,262 Floridians, 29,108 Louisianans, 24,590 Oklahomans and 21,509 New Yorkers. Compared to 2017, Texas saw an increase of 36.4% of Californian residents. And, in 2018, 201,559 people moved to Texas from outside of the country.
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While a lot of people may be moving to the Lone Star State, a bunch of people are leaving as well. Texas ranked third in the nation for the number of residents moving over state lines – a total of 462,140.
Care to guess where these Texas are headed? You guessed it – California.
The most popular destination was the Golden State with 37,810 people moving there, while 31,551 moved to Oklahoma, 26,930 moved to Colorado, 24,197 moved to Florida, and 23,588 moved to Louisiana.
At the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level, data showed a lot of these new Texans are coming from Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, New York-Newark-Jersey City and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. And many of these people are moving to the DFW (200,966) and Houston (176,110) areas.
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But, at the county level, Harris County led the state with 80,572 new out-of-state residents. However, four of the top 10 counties with the highest gain were found in North Texas (Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton). And three of the top 10 counties were here in Central Texas (Travis, Williamson and Bell).
"We anticipate the Lone Star State will continue to be a popular destination for relocation activity for years to come," Bulla said. "We encourage our new neighbors to choose a Texas Realtor to help you assess your needs and navigate our ever-evolving housing market."
The 2020 Texas Relocation Report was based on data from the 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau as well as the 2019 U-Haul National Migration Trend Report. For more information, click here.
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