Almost 700,000 Californians Moved Out Last Year, Many Ended in Texas
The tidal wave of Californians headed to Texas shows no sign of slowing, with almost 700,000 leaving the Golden State last year. More than 86,000 of those California expats came to Texas, according to a new report by Yardi Systems.
“Texas takes second place on the podium among the most popular states for moving to in 2018, with almost 564,000 newcomers,” the report said. About 15% of the people who moved to Texas last year hailed from California. Florida had the largest number of interstate moves in 2018, with most of the transplants coming from New York. Florida continues to be a haven for retiring baby boomers.
Most of Texas’ newcomers are moving for jobs. Texas’ employment base has grown by almost 300,000 jobs in the last year. Dallas-Fort Worth is the top job growth market in the country, accounting for a third of Texas’ employment gains. Almost 140,000 people moved to D-FW last year, with the most relocations to Dallas and Tarrant counties.
On average, it costs Californians between $3,700 and $4,100 to relocate to Texas, the analysts found. “1,545 people per day settled in Texas last year, with Harris County seeing the greatest influx from out of state than any other region,” according to Yardi Systems.
Despite all the moves to Texas, fewer Americans are packing up for greener pastures. The U.S. mobility rate is now at the lowest level since the U.S. Census Bureau started keeping the numbers in 1947. “And in 2018, it dropped under 10% for the first time in history,” Yardi analysts said. “However, around 31 million Americans still moved last year, and 4.6 million of them moved interstate. The interstate migration routes that attracted the most people in 2018 were California to Texas, California to Arizona and New York to New Jersey...”
