California and Texas are among the most populous states in the United States of America. Both States, over time, have been competing to fascinate big companies and human capital resources to their respective states. According to the information obtained from the 2020 U.S. census, the state of Texas is enticing more people than the state of California. We analyze why Texas is pulling more residents from California below.
High cost of rent
The high cost of living is one major factor for the massive movement of Californians to Texas. For instance, the California Association of Realtors revealed that the median price of a single-family home in the state in March was $758,990. While in Texas, it was rightly predicted by Texas Realtors that in the first quarter of 2021, the median cost of single-family homes in the state would reach $275,000.
Fulton, a researcher, and director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University, Houston, equally found out in his research that: “When home prices in California go up, more people move to Texas. When home prices in California go down, fewer people move to Texas.”
Impact of the pandemic
The pandemic also brought a high influx of residents from states with the high cost of living to states with living costs. So, out-migration from costly states such as California and New York rose. States with lower living costs, including Texas and Florida, are seeing an influx of new residents.
Eric Willett, a researcher, researched the pandemic’s effect on people’s judgment to move by looking at the U.S. Postal Service data. He discovered a movement of people across the U.S. emigrating denser metropolitan districts for residences in the suburbs with people working from home. It doesn’t matter as at that time, whether the apartment is a backyard or an extra bedroom, those manners of residence settings came to be much more highly preferred during the pandemic as much as it is cost-effective.
Relocation of companies’ headquarters
The great city of Texas is an appealing city for most tech companies. The city has witnessed a high influx of many companies. Companies such as Tesla Cybertruck and SpaceX’s spaceport are in Texas. Tech companies Oracle and HP Inc., and also CBRE, have relocated their headquarters to Texas. Japanese automaker Toyota also decided to relocate its North American headquarters from California to Texas. It is known for its considerable accommodation and softer cost of living and its tax and business-friendly environment.
Political perspective
The rivalry between the two states in terms of migration has been going on for years. Texas has the upper hand over California, even though California nonetheless has 10 million more dwellers than Texas.
According to Fulton, he sees the migration of California’s residents to Texas as having a political perspective. For the first moment in the state’s narrative, California, a Democratic stronghold, relinquished one congressional seat decided by the state’s population. Republican wobbling Texas, the greatest defeater of all 50 states, won two seats. It’s believed that the influence will be felt in Washington. Fulton said its political importance banks on changing positions from California to Texas — maybe they are cautious Republicans who dislike liberal-predisposition California with its state tax and additional restrictions, or Democrats from California glancing for promising chances in Texas.
Frequent occurrence of wildfires
The frequent occurrence of wildfires in California is a turn down for her, and it not new to residents. However, a rise in the harshness and stretch of wildfires has made more outstanding California residents migrating to a safer area. This wildfire season often starts around July and run through December. It covers cities with suffocating fume and resulting in electricity blackouts that can linger for many days. According to Verisk Wild Fire Risk Analysis report, over 2 million California residences are in the danger zone of the severe risk of wildfires.
Increase in home-workers
The concept of remote working (working from home) has been on the increase for some years. However, the incident of the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the number of remote workers significantly. Several employees acknowledge they can begin again to develop their employment with California-based firms, even while residing several miles away. The change to remote work enables Californians to take shelter in lower housing-cost neighborhoods, still sustaining their high salaries.
