April 23, 2019
Data show that out-of-state newcomers to Texas are fueling urbanization
To the outsider, analyzing domestic migration into Texas might seem like a droll intellectual pursuit. But the numbers reveal a new way of looking at our state, a new way to understand how high-tech jobs, a lower cost of living and a higher quality of life has made Texas an attractive option for some of the best and brightest minds in America, luring them away from crowded, expensive coastal cities like San Francisco and New York.
My roles as the Texas State Demographer and as director of the Texas Demographic Center at the University of Texas in San Antonio give me incredible insight into how populations move in and out of the state. One trend that has remained unchanged for nearly a decade: Texas has led all states in net domestic migration, resulting in an estimated 1,019,434 new residents to our state between 2010 and 2017, or 385 per day, and the influx does not appear to be subsiding.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Austin metro area gained nearly 20,000 domestic migrants, San Antonio's numbers jumped nearly 9,000, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington saw an increase of more than 23,000 and the Houston metro area more than 30,000.