In what may be a response to California's attorney general having a ban on state-funded travel to Texas, the attorney general of Texas has released his assessment of the recent Texas Relocation Report, a study by the Texas Association of Realtors.
In the report, Texas ranked second among states adding new residents from other states, based on the influx and outflow of people. Leading all states with the number of transplants to Texas was California. In 2015, the number of people leaving California for the Lone Star State was 65,546.
"The data in this report came as no surprise to Texans, especially those who have transplanted from California," says Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas). "I talk to people almost every day who made the trek from California to Texas – and without fail, they tell me their move is due to either greater job opportunities, much lower-priced housing, an escape from a left-coast political climate, or just a better quality of culture and life."
The information about Californians moving to Texas confirms what some people already know.
"We've been identifying that situation for some time," says Merrill Matthews, PhD, a resident scholar for the Texas-based Institute for Policy Innovation. "In fact, last year, I flew to California to give a speech and the driver who picked me up at the airport asked me where I was from, and when I said Texas, he asked What are you doing coming to California, all the Californians are moving to Texas?"
Matthews chalks it up to California having higher taxes, more regulations, and a very difficult business climate. "Many Californians, even with the good weather that they have in California, are abandoning California for Texas," he adds.
Does Texas lose residents to other states? "In a country with 50 states, you have out migration and in migration, so Texans leave for a number of reasons," he responds. "More Texans come in, but what's been happening is the positive inflow of Texas has been going for some time." Matthews points to Toyota's decision in recent years to move its North American headquarters from California to Texas.
Texas was ranked #1 for the 13th straight year in 2017 by hundreds of CEOs surveyed by Chief Executive. California anchored the bottom of the list at number 50 for the sixth consecutive year.