People Are Leaving Texas Over Rising Costs, Partisan Politics, And A Sense Of Disenchantment

This blog originally appeared at Business Insider.

Increasing living costs, growing partisan politics, and a sense of disenchantment are driving people to leave Texas, impacting its reputation as a popular destination. Residents cite various factors, from economic considerations to a desire for a change in political and social environment, influencing their decision to seek opportunities elsewhere.

• Texas experienced a surge in popularity during the pandemic that drove home prices up 30%, data suggests.
• The political freedom some sought in the state has encouraged others to leave.
• Have you left or do you plan to leave Texas? Business Insider wants to hear from you.

While some homebuyers seek the American dream in Texas, many are leaving the state to find it elsewhere.

“Lifelong Texan here. I am definitely preparing an exit strategy,” one anonymous user posted on a Reddit thread about leaving Texas. “From the heat to the stripping away of human rights, I’m just done.”

Another poster struck a similar chord. “I’ve been in Texas most of my life, and my husband and I were always planning on retiring here (in about 5 years from now),” they wrote. “But between this intense heat, crazy politics, and cost of living, we’ve decided to leave for good and head to Knoxville.”

As individuals have been relocating to Texas to benefit from its comparatively affordable real estate, political climate, and employment prospects, these very attributes are prompting others to depart. Between 2021 and 2022, over 494,000 people exited Texas (though the state experienced a net population gain of 174,261). This pattern may escalate as housing expenses rise and the state’s political environment becomes more polarized.

Housing costs have some looking for affordability elsewhere

Amid the pandemic, Texas witnessed a spike in popularity, propelling home prices up by 30% from 2019, according to data from Realtor.com. Simultaneously, residents are contending with property taxes that rank among the highest in the nation.

The migration route from California to Texas became the most popular in the country from 2021 to 2022, attracting nearly 108,000 individuals seeking more affordable homes. However, there’s a significant drawback.

“The property-tax percentage rate is higher,” Marie Bailey, a Realtor who moved from El Segundo, California, to Prosper, Texas, in 2017, previously told Business Insider. “Every time a prospective client calls me, it’s one of the first things I talk about.”

As Texas starts to lose its edge as an inexpensive and affordable housing choice, many locals are shifting their focus to the Midwest.

For Texans, “the Midwest has emerged as popular recently because it is just by and large the most affordable region,” Hannah Jones, Realtor.com’s economic-research analyst, told BI in October. “We’re seeing this trend of buyers looking for affordability really explode.”

The political freedom many moved to the state for is driving others away

For numerous Americans, political considerations are as crucial as housing affordability in selecting a place to reside.

In a 2022 survey conducted by the mortgage marketplace LendingTree, involving 1,545 participants, 39% indicated they had relocated or might contemplate moving to another state if their political views didn’t align with the majority.

Jackie Burse, a self-identified conservative, is among the many Californians who opted for Texas due to its political climate. In September, Burse emphasized that it played a pivotal role in her decision to move to Texas in 2021.

In Texas, Burse said, there was “room for people to believe what they want without being shamed,” unlike in California.

In contrast to Burse, Bob McCranie, a real estate broker based in Dallas who established a service to aid LGBTQ+ individuals in Texas in selling their homes and connecting with agents elsewhere in the country and abroad, mentioned to KXAN News in July that the state’s deficiency in inclusivity had fostered an inhospitable environment.

“What we all want as human beings is to feel a level of safety, and if your state is making you feel unsafe, there’s no reason to stay,” McCranie said. “I can’t believe somebody could look at, let’s say, California or New York versus Texas and Florida and say that LGBTQ people feel more welcome in Florida and Texas.”

Texas hasn’t lived up to its promises for some

Certain newcomers to the state have also become disillusioned.

In Austin, a number of tech professionals who surged into the city during the pandemic are eager to leave.

Nick Thomas, aged 30, relocated from downtown Los Angeles to Austin in January 2021 and expressed to BI in August his desire to return to California soon. He described Austin as a “watered-down” rendition of cities he had previously resided in, like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“People say it’s a tech scene just because that’s what they were told, but when you get to it, there’s no evidence for it,” Thomas said. “I think it was just oversold.”

Jules Rogers, a journalist who moved from Portland, Oregon, to Houston in 2018 for a job at a local newspaper, departed Texas less than two years after arriving in the city.

Despite earning a 20% higher income and residing in a more spacious apartment, she stated that her quality of life did not see an improvement.

“I tried to tell myself I just needed to give it a chance, settle in, and get used to Houston, but I missed the trees, the air, the mountains, the ocean, the vibes, and the culture of the Pacific Northwest,” Rogers previously wrote for BI.

She has since returned to Portland, where she said she felt “much happier now back at home.”