- About 612,000 people moved to Texas between 2022 and 2023, new census data shows.
- Most Americans who moved to Texas came from California and Florida, followed by New York and Illinois.
- Americans continue to look for affordability and employment in the Lone Star State.
Arielle Francois never planned to move to Texas.
In 2022, the twenty-something content creator moved from Miami to Dallas for a program at PMG, the media company, where she now works as a digital marketer.
Earlier this year, she told Business Insider’s Madison Hoff that living in Dallas gave her more visibility as a creator, which has created “more opportunities” for her there compared to South Florida. She also said she paid less than $2,000 in rent per month for a nice apartment, which she said was more affordable than options in Miami.
Hundreds of thousands of people looking for a better life have moved to Texas in recent years.
Census data released Oct. 17 shows that nearly 612,000 people moved to the Lone Star State between 2022 and 2023. The data comes from the American Community Survey, which asked respondents if they had moved in the past year.
In 2022, Arielle Francois moved to Dallas from Miami. Skylar/Courtesy of Arielle Francois
California is the state that has lost the most residents to come to Texas. Nearly 94,000 Californians moved to Texas, compared to more than 102,400 the year before.
Florida, where Francois previously lived, is the second largest food state after Texas. Between 2022 and 2023, more than 50,500 residents left Florida for Texas.
Overall, Texas remains a hot spot for movers
Texas ranked second in migration to the U.S. between 2022 and 2023, behind only Florida, which added nearly 637,000 residents during the same period.
After California and Florida, the next migrants to Texas came from Oklahoma, where migration to Texas increased slightly, with more than 29,700 people moving there, compared to 24,300 last year. Then came New York, with just over 29,610 people moving to Texas.
Other states contributing more than 20,000 movers to Texas each include Louisiana, Colorado, Illinois and Washington.
Texel has something for everyone
Some transplants are drawn to the state’s reputation for affordability — thanks in large part to its relatively lower cost of living and lack of income taxes. While others are attracted to the business-friendly climate and abundant employment opportunities.
Many people also move to Texas for its smaller cities, which are sought after for their down-to-earth communities.
Michelle Clifford and her family moved from California to Texas. Thanks to Michelle Clifford
Take California native Michelle Clifford, a 33-year-old sales manager who bought a house with her husband in Celina, Texas, this year.
Located north of Dallas, Celina is one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Yet it has managed to maintain the close-knit atmosphere. This, combined with an abundance of relatively affordable and spacious housing, has contributed greatly to population growth.
“We were attracted to Celina because we have friends from California who moved here,” Clifford told BI in July. “More importantly, it was about doing something completely different. We experienced city life and wanted to embrace country living and own some land.”
It’s not just everyday people looking for a fresh start in Texas; celebrities are also among those moving.
Bella Hadid, seen here in Cannes in 2021, is one of the celebrities who moved to Texas. VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images
Consider supermodel Bella Hadid, who moved to Fort Worth, Texas this year to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City and live with her professional equestrian boyfriend, Adan Banuelos.
Hollywood actor Emma Stone and comedian Joe Rogan have also fled Los Angeles to Austin in recent years.
This trend reflects a broader shift in the realignment of wealth in the US, where even the country’s wealthiest are choosing places where their money goes further, the climate is more inviting and life feels more relaxed.
Where people from Texas move to
There are also plenty of people leaving Texas in search of greener pastures.
Between 2022 and 2023, there were about 478,600 people who left, fewer than the 612,000 who moved there. This gap was even wider between 2021 and 2022, when more than 668,300 people moved to Texas and 494,000 left.
The largest number went to California.
About 38,700 people moved from Texas to California between 2022 and 2023, down slightly from the 42,300 who did so the year before.
In addition, about 37,800 people moved from Texas to Florida, about 32,200 Texans moved to Colorado, and 31,500 went to Oklahoma.
Other popular destinations for former Texans included Georgia, New York and Louisiana, each of which welcomed more than 18,000 Texas residents.
Housing prices and politics have driven some Texans away
Texas may have its appeal, but it also has some drawbacks.
Over the past year, BI has spoken with many residents who have left the state, citing rising home prices and property taxes, extreme heat and a divided political climate as reasons for their departure.
Texan Flora Batts (right) and her husband (left) bought a house in Pennsylvania this year. Thanks to Flora Batts
Flora Batts, a retired Medicaid program coordinator, moved to Pennsylvania this year after living in Austin for more than 60 years.
Batts, 65, told BI in May that she and her husband left because “Big Tech” companies like Dell and Tesla have transformed Texas’ capital in recent decades, driving up the cost of everything from food to housing .
“Michael Dell kicked in the door and let everyone in,” she said. “All that tech money changed Austin and drove up the cost of living.”
Batts and her husband bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on two-thirds of an acre in the small town of Erie, which is just over an hour and a half northwest of Cleveland.
She said they couldn’t have afforded a similar home in Austin.
Ty Joerger with friends at a Seattle Mariners game in Seattle. Thanks to Ty Joerger
Texan Ty Joerger, 25, and a dozen of his friends have moved from Texas to the Pacific Northwest in the past two years.
Although he has a “laundry list” of reasons to leave Texas, he told BI in July that a common concern among him and his friends was the political climate, especially as members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“My friends and I shared a pretty similar feeling: that we didn’t feel safe in a state with increasingly aggressive legislation aimed at us,” he said. “As a gay man, I didn’t feel like I could be myself.”
Joerger now lives in Seattle, where he says he feels safer and more accepted.
“I’ve lived in Texas all my life and I’m so glad I moved to Seattle,” he said. Joerger added that despite his criticism, he still loves the Lone Star State but hopes it can improve “before I would even encourage anyone to move or live there.”