Study: Californians are moving to new Texas city
Texas is 16.2 percent cheaper than California overall, which is likely why an average of 260 residents of the West Coast state are migrating to Texas every single day in search of less expensive housing, lower state taxes and cheaper groceries. While Houston has the highest population of all Texas cities with 2.3 million inhabitants, it's not the most popular choice for Californians who are fleeing the state. Austin is the fifth most inhabited state, with a population of 989,000 (below San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth), but it's been the top pick for those coming from the Golden State.
Data shows that 10,633 Californians moved to Austin in 2023, and most of them were millennials. However people are already beginning to sour on Austin , while Houston is climbing the ranks in popularity. Houston's Harris County was found to be the second most sought-out destination among Californians. Housing in Houston is 60 percent cheaper than on the West Coast and renting is 30 percent cheaper.
The city's economic diversity is also an appealing factor, with energy, manufacturing, aerospace and tech industries all having a presence. Podcasting titan Joe Rogan led the charge of people fleeing to Texas when he moved from Los Angeles to Houston with his family in 2020. Many of them followed him, but came to regret the decision. Comedian Tim Dillon moved to Austin in August 2020, but left by the end of the year after discovering that the city didn't have enough good restaurants.
'It's a horrible city without a soul,' he told fellow comedian Whitney Cummings. 'It's not the live music capital of America. It's three heroin addicts busking with guitars. There's zero talent here in any capacity,' he raged. 'There's three restaurants that are good and I've been to all of them twice.' He said on the H3 podcast that Austin 'can't be compared to New York and Los Angeles'.
Comedian and MMA fighter Brendan Schaub, another one of Rogan's friends, ended up regretting moving from Los Angeles to Austin. The 42–year–old relocated his family to the city earlier this year, but confessed on his Fighter and the Kid podcast that he was 'heartbroken' about leaving Los Angeles and said he misses the city. 'I miss my community and my routine,' he admitted.
Shane Gillis, who moved to Austin in 2023 because Texas has no state income tax, told fellow comedian Andrew Schulz 'Texas [expletive] blows.' He repeatedly complained about the homeless situation in Austin, calling the drug–crazed vagrants in town 'screaming runners.' Not only are Rogan's friends regretting their move to Austin, other celebrities and influencers who migrated are having second thoughts too.
Transgender conservative influencer Blaire White announced that she was leaving Texas after four years to return to her home state of California. The 31–year–old left her Hollywood home in 2021 amid rising homelessness and moved to Austin, 'California in my opinion is the most beautiful place in the world. Yes, I said the world. Yes, I said the world. And it's even more of a shame because of that that it's run by demons.'
Male model Lucky Blue Smith and his influencer wife Nara, who is famous for her trad wife content , left Los Angeles in 2022 to move to Dallas. However, within just two years the couple announced that they were leaving the city to live in Connecticut so that they could be closer to New York. In a TikTok video, Nara said that living in Connecticut would allow the couple to own a large house where they could raise their family, while still 'being closer to a bigger city for all the work that we do.'
It's not only celebrities who have complaints. Jian Jiao moved from the Bay Area to Austin in 2021 , and his friend told him, 'You'll hate Austin. It's hot, boring, and there's no Asian population.' Two years later, he laid out the pros and cons of the city. His cons were bad traffic, roadwork, hard and expensive to find plumbers and electricians. Jiao said the seasons were so extreme that icy winters caused damage to pipes and cause trees to fall, meanwhile summers were so hot his kids couldn't play outside.
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