Is Interest In Moving To Texas Slamming To A Halt? Quite Possibly

For everything there is a season, and based on migration data from Rent.com, 2023 is not the time to live in Texas. The site aggregates data based on where folks are interested in moving, and many are not looking at Texas, in spite of all the headlines and hype that say otherwise. Looks like they won't be "California-ing our Texas" after all.

Texas as a whole is trending into "negative" interest, with some cities turning lukewarm, while others are getting ice cold. San Antonio seems to be faring the best at .31 interest, while Dallas is -1.61%, Houston at -8.42% and Austin at a sharp -20.76% in year-over-year interest. I bet the interest San Antonio is receiving comes at least in part from people wanting to flee Austin for a city that has managed to hold on to its unique vibe.

We know that the move to Texas fad is declining, but do we know why? We know multiple reasons, actually. 

Tech cool down appears to be a major factor for Austin, Dallas, and Houston in particular. According to Chron.com, many of the folks who moved to Texas for opportunities in the tech center have found them to be rather lacking.

 tech workers in particular are getting fed up with Texas, frustrated that career opportunities just aren't as plentiful as they are in Silicon Valley.

There are many other reasons why people are losing interest, and even moving away after they've landed here. Even as a native Texan, the summer heat does give me pause about my decision to live out my life here. Personally, I would never relocate to a major Metroplex unless I was given an opportunity I absolutely could not refuse, because those areas of Texas have some of the worst and most dangerous traffic problems in the country, with very little public transportation to offset the issue.

Additionally, the culture clash has turned a lot of people off. Texas hasn't been particularly friendly to newcomers, and if I was displaced by a rich Californian, I'd likely feel the same way. Politically, Texas has also fought some controversial fights that have left a sour taste amongst those without strongly conservative values.

Time will tell if we begin to see a mass exodus, but I'm willing to bet this decline is just a correction towards a more normal migration pattern in and out of the Lone Star State.