Texas Tops Nation in Supplying Residents to Other States

Texas sent more new residents to other states than any other state in the country, even as it recorded the largest population growth of the decade, according to new data released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 2024 state-to-state migration figures, which track where people lived the year before and where they live now, show Texas as the leading source of new residents for nine states: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

With a population of about 31 million, Texas is the second most populous state in the nation. Between 2020 and 2024, the state added roughly 2.1 million residents.

“The obvious and primary answer is size,” said Dudley Poston, professor emeritus of sociology at Texas A&M University. “There are simply more people leaving Texas than other states because Texas has so many people.”

Other states that sent large numbers of residents elsewhere were also among the most populous, including California, Florida, and New York, according to the Associated Press.

California, the nation’s most populous state with about 39 million residents, was the leading source of new residents for several western states, including Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. It also supplied the most new residents to Tennessee, a state that has developed strong ties to Southern California’s entertainment industry, particularly in Nashville.

Florida, the third most populous state with about 23 million residents, was the top source of new residents for southeastern states such as Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, as well as Ohio. Florida has added approximately 1.8 million residents this decade, the second-highest total of any state.

While population size plays a major role, other factors may also be driving migration out of Florida, according to Richard Doty, a research demographer at the University of Florida. Rising housing costs, increasing homeowners’ insurance rates, and stronger job markets for recent college graduates in cities like Atlanta and Charlotte may all contribute. “It is no longer as affordable a relocation or retirement option as it once was,” Doty said.

New York was the top source of new residents for Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, while Illinois supplied the most new residents to neighboring Midwestern states Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

The states with the highest numbers of people moving out—California, Florida, Texas, and New York—are also the most populous states in the country. “That’s not a coincidence,” said Helen You, interim director of the Texas Demographic Center. “Large populations naturally generate large volumes of both in- and out-migrants.”

Some migration trends followed long-established regional patterns. Former Massachusetts residents were the largest source of new residents in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Wisconsin residents accounted for the largest share of newcomers to Minnesota, while North Carolinians made up the biggest group of new South Carolina residents.

Original Source