More Gen Z adults left California in 2024 than any other state, and Texas was their most common destination, according to a new report from LendingTree based on U.S. Census Bureau data.
The report found that 58,109 Gen Z Californians moved out of state that year. Of those, 19,287 relocated to Texas, making it the single biggest draw for young people leaving the Golden State.
Nationally, about 10.7 million Gen Z Americans — 23.9% of that age group — moved to a different state in 2024. Texas ranked seventh among all states for Gen Z arrivals, while South Carolina topped the list and New York came in ninth. California did not make the top 10 destinations for Gen Z movers.
The report also found that Gen Z adults are far more likely to move across state lines than Millennials, Gen X or Baby Boomers.
A Trend Years in the Making
California’s losses to Texas aren’t new. In 2023, more than 100,000 Californians moved to Texas, more than double the number of Texans who moved to California that year.
A separate study from MovingPlace released this year backs up the pattern specifically among Gen Z. It found 5,081 Zoomers moved to Texas while 3,555 moved out, with the Austin, Houston and Dallas metro areas drawing the largest share of new young residents.
Cost of Living Pressure in California
The exodus appears to be tied closely to California’s housing costs. A poll released last week by Embold Research for Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Bay Area News Group found that 46% of the 1,801 adults surveyed said they feel forced to leave the Bay Area because of high housing costs — up sharply from just 3% the year before.
“What they’re concerned about is our inability to solve our basic problem, which is housing — housing and the high cost of living here,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. “That’s what’s driving people out.”
The data lines up with other recent findings on poverty in the state. California has the nation’s second-highest rate of housing-driven poverty, and its home and rent prices account for 34% of overall poverty and 42% of childhood poverty statewide.
