Texas is sitting pretty atop a national ranking by net migration from state-to-state relocations, further cementing its status as one of the most desirable states to live.

Data recently published by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that an estimated 612,000 individuals moved to the Lone Star State in 2023 and some 479,000 left it, making for a net gain of roughly 133,000 residents.

“We’re proud to share the beauty of our state, there’s truly no place we’d rather call home,” said Blake Barry, president of the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors, in an emailed press release spotlighting the state’s population gains.

The population growth appears to be continuing apace in spite of the state’s ongoing housing crunch. The data indicates that 2023 was the second year in a row that some 8.1% of people in the United States who moved state-to-state chose Texas.

A deep dive by Texas Realtors examined some of the dynamics underlying the population shifts.

The top states Texas exchanged residents with were California and Florida.

In the case of the Golden State, approximately 94,000 people moved out and sought greener pastures in Texas. Only around 39,000 Texans left to settle in California, resulting in a net gain of about 55,000 for the Lone Star State.

Meanwhile, some 51,000 Floridians relocated to Texas. The number of Texans who moved to Florida was clocked at roughly 38,000 for a net gain of around 13,000 residents in Texas’ favor.

Other states also contributed quite a bit to Texas’ net gain, including New York (10,600), Maryland (10,500), and Louisiana (10,000).

On the flip side, two states stand out for gaining at the Lone Star State’s expense. Colorado netted about 6,800 residents from Texas, and North Carolina netted around 6,500.

As far as who was moving to Texas in 2023, senior demographer and associate director of the Texas Demographic Center Helen You told KERA News:

“From our research and past other data, we have seen that people who move to Texas tend to be people of younger working age population, who usually tend to more likely have a kid and who came for better pay and more opportunity, job opportunities.”

A recent report on migration trends by the National Association of Realtors, however, suggests other motivations are behind Americans moving to the Lone Star State. The report assessed inter-regional migration flows, neglecting to dive into individual state figures. Nevertheless, it yielded interesting insights by surveying realtors across the U.S. in August 2024.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the South — comprising Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia — drew the biggest share of respondents’ clients (46%). The region with the second highest share was the West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming), which attracted 25% of respondents’ clients.

Of those who moved to the South, 33% told their Realtors they were moving to be closer to friends and family, 20% said it was to secure more home for the money, 19% said it was because of lower/more favorable tax rates, and 16% said it was to live in a safer area with less crime. Only 11% said their relocation was motivated by better job market opportunities.

Realtors were able to list multiple reasons per client in the survey.

It’s also worth noting that the Lone Star State’s housing market hasn’t just been buzzing from state-to-state migration. It also logged the biggest number of internal moves within a single state last year, coming in at roughly 3.36 million.