California seeing a sizable influx of new residents relocating from Texas

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 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.

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.”

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