Where Are All of Dallas’ Transplants Coming From? Surprise!

Everybody knows Dallas is a city of transplants. You’re as likely to meet someone from Berlin or from Seattle here as you are someone who’s a born-and-raised, cowboy-boot wearin’  Texan. Our city is growing by leaps and bounds and is consistently ranked as one of the top-five fastest growing cities in America. So it makes sense that we’re welcoming transplants from all over the country.

But where are the MOST coming from?

The population of the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area is inching ever closer to 7,000,000. You know most of those millions aren’t natives. Here’s a handy-dandy graph that uses incoming cell phone area codes to discern exactly which cities and states are sending the most transplants to Dallas.

You’re gonna be surprised.

Turns out, Dallas really is a melting pot. A full one-third of our newest residents are coming from states that contribute less than 2.5% of our overall transplant population. That means we’ve got folks from Connecticut, Iowa, Hawaii and pretty much every great state in the nation!

Unsurprisingly, our neighbors in Louisiana and Oklahoma are sending the most folks down our way. This is likely thanks to our fabulous higher-education and our ranking as the #1 city for jobs in the country. What’s a little more unusual is that Colorado transplants make up about 7% of all incoming Dallasites. No kidding. Denver itself is growing rapidly and real estate values are heading up, but it seems even the scenic mountains and the new Rocky Mountain “high” can’t compare to our thriving business scene, excellent home values, and easy-living spirit.

Now if we could just do something about those public schools.

It’s interesting to note that all five of the top-contributing cities to the Dallas area are major metropolitan areas. From San Francisco to Chicago, people are figuring out they can afford a far better quality of life and avoid adverse weather if they simply come on down to the Lone Star State. We can’t blame them. A few standouts on the city list include Washington DC, Orlando, and Las Vegas. Of course cold Chicago, my birth city, is number one but it’s interesting to note how many Bay area transplants we have.

We know why we’d move to Dallas if we didn’t already live here. We came down in 1980 and were going to camp out for four years, then head back east to New York City or New England. But I fell in love and declared my loyalty, becoming a Born Again Texan. I liked the weather, the friendliness, and the cost of living. Did we miss mountains and the beach? Yes, but those are just a plane-ride or car-trip away.

Where are you seeing newcomers coming from? What brought you to Texas and… would you come back?