MIGRATION DESTINATION
Austin ranks among nation's top 5 spots for millennials on the move
In the category of news that will surprise no one, young people are moving to Austin in droves.
According to the fifth-annual study from SmartAsset, millennials are fleeing cities like Los Angeles and Chicago and migrating to other areas in search of work and a better quality of life, with Austin landing as the No. 4 hot spot for young professionals age 25 to 39.
In order to compile the list, SmartAsset dug into U.S. Census Bureau data from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 180 specific cities. According to the findings, millennials make up 31.3 percent of the Austin population, which amounts to the 11th highest population percentage for the millennial generation in the study. Additionally, Austin saw a net migration of 5,686 millennials from out of state in 2019.
When it comes to migrating millennials, the Lone Star State is tops, landing at No. 1 for states where millennials are moving, with more than 187,000 young people heading to Texas in the pre-pandemic year. Though some 154,000 millennials left Texas during the same time period, this results in a net gain of more than 33,000 millennial residents, the biggest net gain for the group in the country, giving Texas the lead in millennial migration for the second year in a row.
Though Austin ranks as the top Texas city where millennials are moving, one other Texas spot landed in the top 10, the Dallas suburb of Frisco (No. 6), with a net migration of 3,516 out-of-state millennials in 2019.
Dallas just missed the top 10, landing at No. 11 on the list, with a net millennial migration of 2,525 in 2019. Other Texas cities making the list include Houston (No. 18), with a net migration of 2,197 millennials, and San Antonio (No. 22), with a net migration of 1,865 millennials.
The top city overall for millennial migration in 2019 was Denver, followed by Seattle.