California seeing a sizable influx of new residents relocating from Texas
SAN JOSE -- For more than a decade, the so-called "Great California Exodus" has seen residents leave the state in droves, mostly because of the high cost of living.
The pandemic only made it worse with the rise of remote work leading hundreds of thousands to head to places like Washington state, Idaho, and especially Texas.
But plenty of folks are bucking the trend and making their way to the Bay Area from other states.
There were a lot of reasons why Allison Hallas was excited to move her family to California.
The weather was one of the top ones, which has made her daily walks with her dog, Whiskey, much more enjoyable than they previously were before she moved to the Bay Area.
"I always wanted to take him on daily walks. We'd get into a habit of it for a couple of weeks - the weather would be great. But then it would be pouring down rain, tornadoes, ice, hundred-degree humidity," she said.
Hallas and her family now live in Pleasanton. They moved here from outside of Dallas, Texas, at the beginning of the year.
"We fell in love with the area," she said. "It's just gorgeous scenery. The weather is so nice."
Hallas says even though the cost of living in California was a bit intimidating, her family was ready for a change. So she found a job at a tech company in San Jose, they sold their house and headed west.
"Everything happened so fast, but it all fell into place like it was just meant to be," she said.
The typical reaction back home, when they told everyone they were moving from Texas to California?
"'What?! You're moving to California? Everybody is moving here!'" Hallas said.
The California exodus is a story that's been ongoing for several years. While it is slowing down, it is still happening. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that California lost about 102,000 residents to Texas from 2021-2022. However, the numbers also show that California gained more residents from Texas than from any other state at around 42,000.
"It seemed to people like we were the only ones going the opposite way. But then oh wait, there are a bunch of people from Texas here," Hallas said.
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While California is still seeing a net loss of residents per year to Texas, the data shows the number of Texans coming to California is increasing.
"We're definitely losing more people than we're gaining, but it's eased," said Abby Raisz, Senior Research Manager with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. "What is that being caused by? Well, we have one of the worst affordability crises in the country and a lot of young people making less than $100,000 simply can't afford big cities in the Bay Area or big cities in Southern California."
One reason why she thinks this is happening is that people who moved to Texas for fully remote work during the pandemic are now coming back.
"You know, this strict enforcement from employers working in-office, in-person at least some of the time or full-time was a major contributor," she said.
Another reason?
"It's not just workers returning. It's new jobs being created in some of these burgeoning industries like AI," she said. "The Bay Area remains this epicenter of innovation when it comes to tech."
To Hallas, it was about more than the job opportunity.
"It's very inclusive. People do think of the environment. The diversity is...I love it. I love meeting people from different backgrounds," she said. "It's not just about race and religion – it's all kinds of different people in all different aspects of life."
She says they're still getting used to adjusting their lifestyle here.
"The gas prices are higher, but now I've shifted my lifestyle and use public transportation that really wasn't available where I was at," she said.
There's no question they'll always be proud to be from Texas, but Hallas says one thing has become clear.
"We're happier," she said. "I feel like we fit in more with the cultural environment here in California."
It's the opening of a new California chapter for a family from the Lone Star State.
