The pandemic sparked a Great Migration that put millions of Americans — and considerable wealth — on the move. That was especially true in Texas, which added the second-most number of people via migration from mid-2021 to mid-2022.
New estimates from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey indicate Texas added just over 668,000 new residents, with net migration of more than 174,000.
Texas added the most new residents from California (102,442), while it also lost the most residents (42,279) to the Golden State.
It's worth noting that, as usual, most new residents to the Dallas metro in the past few years came from other parts of Texas. Also, this new state-to-state migration data represents estimates rather than the exact number of moves, so there is a margin of error. Additionally, the data doesn't cover immigration from other countries.
Still, this data underscores how Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro are changing during a time of transition for the country.
DFW has been a landing place for many new Texans as well as for companies. Corporate relocations in recent years include Caterpillar, AECOM, CBRE and McKesson.
Top 5: Where new Texans came from 2021-22
1. California: 102,442
2. Florida: 41,747
3. New York: 30,890
4. Illinois: 25,272
5. Louisiana: 25,192
Top 5: Where people leaving Texas headed 2021-22
1. California: 42,279
2. Florida: 38,207
3. Oklahoma: 26,440
4. Colorado: 25,466
5. Georgia: 23,754
While experts say the Great Migration has slowed, it's still having a substantial impact on local economies even as remote-work availability is lessening. That's particularly true when it comes to housing and workforce development.
The Census Bureau estimated about 8.2 million Americans moved to a new state between 2021 and 2022.
The frequently noted California exodus was evident in the data, with the state losing an estimated 817,669 residents to other states. That was by far the nation's highest total. California also ranked at the bottom nationally for net state-to-state migration, with a loss of 341,866 people.
Not surprisingly, high-growth Sun Belt states were the biggest beneficiary of California's losses. After Texas, the top destinations for those leaving California were Arizona (74,157) and Florida (50,701).
Sun Belt states also led the way — and by a wide margin — for net migration gains, with Florida (249,064) edging Texas (174,261) for the top spot. Florida has long been a top destination for snowbirds, and its lack of a state income tax has also helped it lure new residents.
A host of factors have been driving residents to states across the Sun Belt, including strong job growth, relative affordability compared with coastal hubs and quality-of-life amenities.
One outlier in the top 10 states for net state-to-state migration was Connecticut, which had a net gain of 56,582 — fueled in large part by migration from New York.
At the other end of the spectrum, California was joined by New York (-244,137) and Illinois (-115,719) for stats with the greatest net loss. In total, 18 states posted a loss in net state-to-state migration.
