Californians moving to Houston can save up to $646,000, study finds

ByAmber Heckler CultureMap logo
Monday, July 3, 2023
8 Californians who left for Texas share thoughts 1 year later
A shrinking California. Waves of companies relocating to Texas. The idea of a California exodus gained momentum over the years. But is it true? We dug into the data to separate fact from fiction. Watch "California Dreaming: Moving to Texas" now.

HOUSTON, Texas -- Does it seem that Californians really are everywhere here in Houston? Here's why: A new report by online storage finding platform StorageCafe has revealed just how much money the average Californian saves by taking on the title of transplant and relocating to the Lone Star State.

And more people from Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties are choosing Houston over any other area in Texas.

The video featured above is from our sister station KGO-TV in San Francisco, as they followed the paths of eight former Californians who uprooted and left for the Lone Star State.

The new migration report by StorageCafe states about 111,000 people moved to Texas from the Golden State in 2021, while only 33,000 Texans made the opposite move to California that same year.

The reasons why so many are flocking to Texas seem obvious: the lack of income tax, a lower cost of living, and the rise of remote work flexibility. These factors proved to be vastly important for millenials, who made up a majority of the transplants (46 percent).

For more on this story, continue reading from our ABC13 partners at Houston CultureMap.