did you know that in 2019 over half a million people moved to Texas and that between 2020 and 2022 almost 900 000 people moved there many of the people moving to Texas have been from California with an estimated 1 in 10 new residents being from there other states that people are moving from include Florida Louisiana Arizona New Mexico and Illinois but why are so many people moving to the Lone Star State well today on across the globe we're going to be looking at why Texas has seen such a huge increase in new residents number one
affordable housing one of the biggest reasons people are moving to Texas is because they're seeking affordable housing and more space the median home sale in January of 2023 in Texas was only 336 thousand dollars below the national median sale of about 383 thousand dollars but this trend wasn't unique to January Texas in general is more affordable than housing nationally and way more affordable when compared to States like California where many people are moving from rent is also relatively affordable here according to rent.com the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Austin is a little less
than Seventeen hundred dollars in Houston that number is only about thirteen hundred dollars per month and as an added bonus you get more square footage living in Texas the average size of a home there is over two thousand square feet making it one of the states with the largest homes in the country number two tax advantages there are only nine states in the country with no state income tax and one of these is Texas however Texas has taken things a step further than other states with no income tax because they actually voted in 2019 to
permanently ban state income tax through a constitutional amendment this is a big deal because state income tax can add up obviously this is good news for individuals and families moving to Texas and looking to save but Texas's tax codes also benefit small businesses as well the cost of doing business in Texas is well below the national average and they have no corporate income tax either number three cost of living based on what we've talked about so far affordable housing and tax advantages it should come as no surprise to you that the cost of living in
Texas is far cheaper than many other places and that's another big reason people are moving here according to data from Sofi for instance the average cost of living in Texas in 2021 was only thirty nine thousand six hundred sixty one dollars which comes out to just over thirty three hundred dollars per month for one person number four job opportunities ordinary people aren't the only ones leaving California for Texas even billionaires like Elon Musk are moving there and with more companies being headquartered in this state this means more job opportunities Fortune 500 companies Oracle and Hewlett
Packard Enterprise recently announced that they were relocating to Texas crbe and Charles Schwab also moved there and of course as I mentioned Elon Musk recently relocated Tesla's headquarters from San Francisco to Austin Texas but that's just the start of it apparently between 2018 to 2021 about 114 companies moved to Texas from California alone it seems reasonable then to conclude that an increase in job opportunities is another one of the major draws of moving to Texas and the data Bears this out I should mention though that it's not just companies that have recently relocated there that
act as magnets for job Seekers Texas has booming industries that have been around for decades this includes Industries like oil and agriculture both of which have played a major role in The Lone Star State's economy number five great weather if I asked you to think of states with great weather you might immediately think of places like California Florida or Hawaii however Texas often flies under the radar when it comes to its weather and it arguably has some of the best weather in the country of course this is yet another incentive for people to move here
especially if they're coming from already warm States like California so let's break down what Texas's weather is like while you might picture it as being unbearably hot there it's actually pretty mild year round in the winter in Austin for instance average Highs are in the 60s and in the summer they're in the upper 80s and 90s Dallas's weather is pretty similar although maybe a few degrees cooler and as an added perk it's sunny in fact cities like Dallas see over 230 days of sun each year and when it comes to Austin that number jumps to
almost 300 days number six family friendly along with affordable cost of living and relatively cheap housing Texas is also considered a great place to raise a family and many people are moving here for this reason several of Texas's major cities for instance have above average numbers of children indicating that Texas is becoming an increasingly popular place for families and of course when it comes to looking for a good place to raise a family you're likely looking for a spot with great schools luckily Texas meets this parameter with schools in recent years outranking the national average
for instance 8th graders in Texas recently outperformed students from California New York and Florida when it came to math science and reading and this trend seems like it will keep improving a 2022 review published by the Texas Education Agency for example showed that the number of Texas schools that have received high ratings has increased in recent years in 2022 almost 20 eight percent of the schools evaluated received a rating of an a while 46 percent had a rating of a b and only 6.7 percent a c rating number seven traffic is manageable I know most
people probably aren't moving to Texas just because of traffic but it's an added perk on top of all of these other incentives and that's especially the case because most people moving to Texas are coming from California which has the worst traffic in the country in fact wallet Hub recently compiled a list of the best and worst cities in the country to drive in and many Texas cities were at the top of the list to sort these cities apart from each other wallet Hub looked at 30 metrics across four categories traffic and infrastructure safety access to
vehicles and maintenance and cost of ownership and maintenance number eight lower crime rate while crime has always been a factor in deciding where to live it's become increasingly important to many people in recent years a 2022 report from Gallup for instance found that the number of Americans who frequently worry about crime is at the highest levels since the early 2000s in fact they found that 53 percent worry about crime a great deal and 27 percent of Americans worry about crime a fair amount this makes crime one of the top National concerns of Americans now when
it comes to the safest states in the country Texas actually ranks in the bottom half so you're probably wondering why I've included this on this list the reason is because Texas has a lower crime rate compared to some of the states people are moving from States like Louisiana New Mexico Colorado and Arizona these states all rank several points below Texas when it comes to crime and safety meaning that while Texas may not be the number one safest state in America it's definitely safer than some of these other states people are moving from number nine it's
diverse did you know that Texas is the second most diverse state in the country that's the news from wallethub which set out to determine which states were winning and losing when it comes to diversity and Texas was ranked number two behind only California to determine the rankings wallet Hub looked at several factors including cultural economic diversity household religious socioeconomic and political diversity notably Texas ranked number one when it came to Industry diversity indicating that no matter your field you'll likely be able to find a job in an industry in Texas it also scored high in
linguistic diversity at number three in the country racial and ethnic diversity at number four and household size diversity at number five number 10 there's lots to do for those moving to Texas from other urban areas the fact that they won't lose access to Urban amenities is a major draw because as the second biggest state in the country there's really no shortage of things to do cities like Houston have the Space Center along with numerous museums of vibrant restaurant scene and lots of culture Austin is a mecca for those who are a patron of the Arts
with public Arts projects dance performances music and theater taking place on the regular and Dallas is home to the country's largest Art District spanning 118 acres and of course the base for the Dallas Cowboys plus as I mentioned earlier Texas has pretty mild weather year round this means that Texans can enjoy outdoor activities no matter the season for instance Texas has two national parks Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park it's also home to an additional 640 Thousand Acres of protected land including 89 state parks historic sites and other natural areas what about
the other states people are moving to watch that video and others right here