Texas kept its welcome mat firmly in place in 2024, pulling in a net gain of roughly 73,000 residents from other states even as Americans moved across state lines less overall. The latest Texas Relocation Report says the state captured about 7.8% of all cross-state moves and saw more than 3.4 million people shuffle addresses within its own borders, equal to roughly 11% of Texans last year. California and Florida stayed at the top of the list for new arrivals, while nearby states like Oklahoma, Tennessee and Colorado managed to lure some Texans away.
Report snapshot
The Texas Relocation Report from Texas REALTORS®, released yesterday, draws on American Community Survey estimates that track moves made in 2024. Using migration tables from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report finds that Texas accounted for roughly 7.8% of all interstate moves nationwide and ended the year with a net gain of about 73,000 residents from other states. In other words, plenty of people left, but even more showed up with moving trucks and big plans.
Where new Texans came from
No surprise here: California stayed firmly in the top spot, sending about 77,000 residents to Texas and producing an estimated net gain of roughly 32,000 people for the Lone Star State. Florida contributed about 52,000 new Texans for a net gain of about 7,000. Not every relationship was a one-way street, though. Texas logged net losses to a few neighbors and rising hot spots, including Oklahoma (down about 9,000 residents on net), Tennessee (down about 5,000), and Colorado (also down about 5,000).
What it means for housing and cities
All that movement inside the state, paired with a steady stream of newcomers, is not just a trivia point. More than 3.4 million Texans moved within state lines last year, and when that internal churn collides with inbound migration, demand tends to pile up in the usual suspects: Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The result is more pressure on already tight for-sale inventories and rental markets, especially when mortgage rates are still relatively high.
Previous work by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M has flagged the state’s high share of in-state moves as a key driver of housing turnover at the local level. Brokers say that even a modest net gain from other states can feel outsized in particular neighborhoods when there are only a handful of homes on the market and multiple families competing for each one.
For those who really want to dig into the numbers, the full Texas Relocation Report and the Census migration tables are available online, with details down to state-to-state and county-level flows. Local outlet KVUE offered a broad recap when the report dropped. As Texas keeps growing and reshuffling its own population, state and local officials say these yearly snapshots help them decide where to add roads, expand schools and plan new development so that all those new neighbors have somewhere practical to land.
