Leaving Texas: Why People Are Exiting the Lone Star State
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Texas state capitol in Austin. Getty Images/ Jon Hicks Redeem now
- Texas experienced a surge in popularity during the pandemic that drove home prices up 30%, data suggests.
- The political freedom some sought in the state has encouraged others to leave.
While some homebuyers seek the American dream in Texas, many are leaving the state to find it elsewhere.
"Lifelong Texan here. I am definitely preparing an exit strategy," one anonymous user posted on a Reddit thread about leaving Texas. "From the heat to the stripping away of human rights, I'm just done."
Another poster struck a similar chord. "I've been in Texas most of my life, and my husband and I were always planning on retiring here (in about 5 years from now)," they wrote. "But between this intense heat, crazy politics, and cost of living, we've decided to leave for good and head to Knoxville."
While people have been moving into the Lone Star state to take advantage of its relatively affordable real-estate market, political atmosphere, and work opportunities, some of those same qualities are driving others out. More than 494,000 people left Texas between 2021 and 2022 (though the state gained a net population of 174,261). It's a trend that could intensify as housing costs surge and the state's political landscape becomes more polarized.
Housing costs have some looking for affordability elsewhere
Texas experienced a surge in popularity during the pandemic that pushed home prices up 30% from 2019, data from Realtor.com indicated. At the same, residents are also grappling with property taxes that are among the highest in the country.
Californians seeking more affordable homes made the Golden-to-Lone-Star-state moving route the most popular in the country from 2021 to 2022, with almost 108,000 people making the move. But there's one big downside.
"The property-tax percentage rate is higher," Marie Bailey, a Realtor who moved from El Segundo, California, to Prosper, Texas, in 2017, previously told Business Insider. "Every time a prospective client calls me, it's one of the first things I talk about."
Marie Bailey and her family moved to Prosper, Texas in 2017, where she is now a realtor helping other Californians make the move to The Lone Star State. Courtesy of Marie Bailey
As Texas starts to lose its edge as an inexpensive and affordable housing choice, many locals are shifting their focus to the Midwest.
For Texans, "the Midwest has emerged as popular recently because it is just by and large the most affordable region," Hannah Jones, Realtor.com's economic-research analyst, told BI in October. "We're seeing this trend of buyers looking for affordability really explode."
The political freedom many moved to the state for is driving others away
For many Americans, politics are just as important as housing affordability when choosing a place to live.
A 2022 survey by the mortgage marketplace LendingTree involving 1,545 participants found that 39% of respondents said they'd relocated or might consider moving to a different state if their political views didn't align with the majority.
Jackie Burse, a self-identified Conservative, is one of the many Californians who have sought out Texas for its political environment. Burse told BI in September that it played a crucial role in her decision to relocate to Texas in 2021.
Jackie Burse grabbing a drink. Courtesy of Jackie Burse
In Texas, Burse said, there was "room for people to believe what they want without being shamed," unlike in California.
Contrary to Burse, Bob McCranie, a Dallas-based real-estate broker who created a real-estate service that helps LGBTQ+ people in Texas sell their homes and get connected with agents in different parts of the country and abroad, told KXAN News in July that the state's lack of inclusivity had created an unwelcoming environment.
"What we all want as human beings is to feel a level of safety, and if your state is making you feel unsafe, there's no reason to stay," McCranie said. "I can't believe somebody could look at, let's say, California or New York versus Texas and Florida and say that LGBTQ people feel more welcome in Florida and Texas."
Texas hasn't lived up to its promises for some
Some recent transplants have also grown disenchanted with the state.
In Austin, some tech workers who flocked to the city during the pandemic just can't seem to get out fast enough.
Nick Thomas, 30, moved to Austin from downtown Los Angeles in January 2021 and told BI in August he hoped to move back to California soon. He said Austin was a "watered-down" version of places he'd previously lived, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
"People say it's a tech scene just because that's what they were told, but when you get to it, there's no evidence for it," Thomas said. "I think it was just oversold."
Jules Rogers, a reporter who relocated from Portland, Oregon, to Houston in 2018 for a position at a local newspaper, left Texas less than two years after moving to the city.
Jules Rogers, left, in Texas. Courtesy of Jules Rogers
Though she was earning a 20% higher income and living in a more spacious apartment, she said that her quality of life hadn't improved.
"I tried to tell myself I just needed to give it a chance, settle in, and get used to Houston, but I missed the trees, the air, the mountains, the ocean, the vibes, and the culture of the Pacific Northwest," Rogers previously wrote for BI.
She has since returned to Portland, where she said she felt "much happier now back at home."
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So... .if the headline was remotely honest.... this is what it would talk about.
It's not about politics. It's about "consecutive number of days over 105 degrees". We had the 2nd hottest summer on record this year.
Folk are leaving Texas and Florida unless they work for NASA.
Teachers are leaving in droves.
I seriously doubt that people move because a state isn't "inclusive" enough.
Maybe all those illegal immigrants are taking all the good jobs and cheap housing.
“Maybe all those illegal immigrants are taking all the good jobs and cheap housing.”
…the ‘good jobs’? …the ‘cheap housing?…
…they are doing the shit jobs and scrambling for housing on a daily basis with a wink, wink, and a nudge, nudge while simultaneously being blamed and castigated for a problem decades in the making.
Although more people are moving to Texas than leaving it
Lol.
Biggest self own in a while on this site..
My money is this "anonymous user" couldn't list ANY human rights that are being stripped.
Probably not but people who don't live there can tell you all about the human rights items. Watch these pages.................
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You didn't know? The people who have never been somewhere can tell you everything that is wrong with that place. You know, because they heard from a friend who heard from a friend...
I lived in TX during the Ann Richards years. Good time to live in TX. Then George Bush came to the thrown.
Arkansas isn't any better. Sarah Sanders who was only elected in 2022, is suffering the lowest approval ratings of any AR governor so far. The people that voted her are the ones who would love living in TX where they say all the nasty things they want about people of color or different sexuality.
texas rwnj gov't is so corrupt now, it's mostly a criminal enterprise. I don't know which is worse, the outright rwnj racists/bigots, rwnj's that deny any past institutionalized racism or bigotry ever, or the ones that are too fucking stupid to realize they're racists/bigots...
That is quite a charge.
I needed a laugh today.
Arkansas was fixin' to be the most corrupt with Clinton, Tucker, then Mike Huckabee. But then cam Mike Beebe and Asa Hutchinson and they cleaned the place up.
And now we have Sarah Cuntabee fixin' to make it all dirty again
We call those people democrats now.
She bought a 19,000 dollar podium.
The prison down the road builds them for next to nothing...cost of materials.
So how is Sarah dirtying it up for you?
I don’t think she is yet because the post said she’s “fixin’ to,,,,”
The piece begins by admitting that more people are coming to Texas than leaving.
Look at the idiotic title.
What part of Texas is that, exactly?
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Yes, people do move around from time to time. It is a good indicator that no one's feet are nailed to the ground anywhere in the country. However, some people/state's like to compete with their fellow states. .. and this "practice" is useless in and of itself as the whole country is One. One. One.
Live where you want. For as long as you want. And move somewhere else if/when you want.
Although more people are moving to Texas than leaving it, some Texans are packing up for states with lower property taxes and more inclusivity.
I'm glad we established that more are coming in than leaving. (The opposite of California)
What I want to see is some valid proof that people who move from Texas are doing so because they want more fucking inclusivity.
No one has to lie about this. You know you could conduct your own surveys of the people moving in/out of Texas. And as far as Texas goes-it is definitely not mandating inclusivity when it deliberately enacts policies which are exclusive. . . such as mandating no abortions or extremely limiting abortions as the case may be.
That's actually not far fetched.
Lots of people moved to Austin, thinking it would be an oasis of liberalism or some other nonsense. It's liberal by Texas standards, but I doubt it holds a candle to major areas on "the left coast".
So...."not as liberal as where I came from" plus "how fucking hot can a place be?" equals "I'm taking my sweaty ass back to LA".
I guess not enough homeless tent cities and shit piles on the sidewalks for him. His app was useless.
What I find humorous is that some people don't know that the major Texas cities have been controlled by oppressive, corrupt Democrat mayors and city councils for decades, and that this fact alone could be why decent, hard-working people of all races finally woke up and have relocated to safer, cleaner cities.
Morning..well one Texas citizen I know is about to migrate to the Great Southern Land..far as we are concerned Texas loss our gain..
We will convert her to eating Vegemite and driving on the right side of the road in no time...
Might take awhile to grasp our language but she'll be right...
Don't you mean correct side? Just funnin' with ya
She drives on the right side now.
Nah you mob have always got it wrong..😁🦘🐨
So long as she remembers what's really important with living down under....
Yet!! 😁😁
That's the little fella I was thinking of in my comment above
I would move to Australia but my daughter is afraid of it. She says critters down there want to kill you.
We have critters in Arkansas that want to kill you
Morning trouty...you are perfectly safe here..well most of the time, sort of, usually you are, the chances of been bitten are...
Umm well I guess a poor French back packer did die the other month from snake bite here in Victoria...
Then there were a few shark attacks in South Australia last month...but all the victims survived.. just a few chomp marks...
A teen in Sydney was bitten by a funnel web in his bed early this year but he lived..he would have been cactus but we have anti venom for that...
So if you are careful where you walk, swim and live..see you'll be right, no worries..
See? Optimism!
And optimism is a good thing. Just remember to properly dress for the continent and you'll be fine...
One kick from a roo and he will be flat on his back and cactus..🤣
But will he feel it? hehe
Don't be fooled by his smile and beguiling appearance, the Quokka may look cute and cuddly but has been known on many occasions after smiling at you to jump and give you a smooch (kiss) and make off with any goodies you may have.
Give you a smooch 🤣🤣
Look at the eyes..
He is thinking "lunch"...
Trust me, you do not want to get into a fight with a Roo. Their kick will put you in the hospital and a punch with their fist will do this to you.
They throw their babies at you when they feel threatened, too
He is adorable and I think he wants to share his lunch
They're nasty beasties
Unless things have changed drastically since 2010, she should be fine as long as she avoids horses, cattle and dogs.
I don't know how common rabies is in your area of Arkansas, but I always keep an eye out for strange behavior in my dogs and cats. Over the last two decades, I have had to shoot a couple of my dogs and one cat because they exhibited symptoms of rabies. So if you have pets that roam freely, please acquaint yourself with symptoms of rabies and always pay attention to any odd behavior.
Cute article...
Rabies is endemic in Arkansas same as any other state. My cat really doesn't roam too far from the house but I keep a good eye on her. She hears other cats fighting with each other in the woods and I tell her to mind her own business.
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According to the US Census, it doesn't seem that people are moving out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area!
Well, of course, people are leaving Texas. They're being bused to New York. And Eric Adams has stained his frillies because of it.