Texas remains a top destination for U.S. residents

01/04/2017 Author: Editorial Staff

The 2017 Texas Relocation Report released today by the Texas Association of REALTORS® reveals that Texas continues to gain new residents from out of state. Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Texas ranked second among states for inflow of U.S. residents in 2015, with 553,032 people moving to the state. Texas bested its 2014 net gain in out-of-state residents by 4% in 2015—growth of 107,689 individuals.

"The diverse job opportunities and high quality of life in Texas continue to drive in-state and out-of-state migration to Texas cities and counties, both big and small," said Vicki Fullerton, 2017 chairman of the Texas Association of REALTORS®. "This is the third consecutive year that Texas has gained more than 500,000 new residents from out of state."

The number of out-of-state residents moving to Texas in 2015 increased by 2.8% year-over-year, with the greatest number of new Texans coming from California, Florida, Louisiana, New York, and Oklahoma, in descending order. Texas again ranked third in terms of U.S. resident outflows led by residents moving to California, Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Louisiana. 

The 2017 Texas Relocation Report is the first to include comparative relocation data by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and New York-Newark-Jersey City recorded the greatest number of resident migrations to Texas in 2015 while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington settled the most incoming residents from out-of-state, followed by Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland and Austin-Round Rock.