More and more Gen Zs are now preferring to move to Texas, making it the U.S. state with the most Gen Z movers year-over-year. This was revealed by a new analysis conducted by Zillow—an American housing platform.
The real-estate marketplace conducted its analysis using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 American Community Survey (ACS). After completing it, results showed that Texas gained the most Gen Z residents in 2022.
Why Gen Zs Prefer Moving To Texas
Zillow's analysis showed that the Lone Star State was able to have a net gain of over 76,000 new Gen Z movers. Texas was followed by California (gaining almost 44,000 Gen Z residents) and Florida (gaining more than 41,000 Gen Z movers).
Edward Berchick, the principal population scientist of Zillow, explained why younger American citizens are now moving to Texas.
"Texas offers job opportunities and relative affordability. Many parts of Texas have been successful [in] building a lot of new housing to better accommodate its new residents," he said via Fox Business.
The arrival of Gen Zs, Texas also had the largest numeric change—across all generations and ages—in the United States in 2022 since the Lone Star State was able to add 473,453 people during that year.
"People have different priorities at different stages of their lives. Young adults may be more willing to be flexible in their living standards or put a larger share of their income toward housing when starting their careers," explained Berchick.
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Other US States With Most Gen Z Movers
Aside from Texas, California, and Florida, Zillow also provided other U.S. states with the most Gen Z movers. These include the following:
- Colorado: 39,797 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- North Carolina: 33,690 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- Washington: 33,534 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- Virginia: 26,418 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- Illinois: 25,890 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- Georgia: 24,788 Gen Z out-of-state movers
- Arizona: 21,418 Gen Z out-of-state movers
If you check the list, it includes some of the more expensive U.S. states, such as Washington. But the question is, if these states are expensive to live in, why do younger Americans prefer them?
Edward Berchick said that many Gen Zs are moving to these more expensive U.S. states because they offer higher-paying job opportunities, which can help them achieve financial independence.
Another reason is that these younger Americans are willing to be flexible in their living arrangements just to have the amenities and opportunities they want in life.
