Moving in
Austin leads Texas for influx of out-of-state renters, says study
Austin already is the capital of Texas. But how about another title — the state’s capital for out-of-state renters?
A study released April 16 by self-storage platform StorageCafé finds that Austin reigns as the biggest magnet in Texas for renters who’ve moved here from another state. About 40 percent of renters who relocated to Austin last year came from a different state, the study shows. That compares with 33 percent for San Antonio, 30 percent for Houston, 24 percent for Fort Worth, 21 percent for Dallas, and 15 percent for Arlington.
New York City ranks as the No. 1 source of out-of-state renters in Austin, followed by Columbus, Ohio, StorageCafé says. About 1.7 percent of Austin renters came from New York City in 2020.
“One of Austin’s strongest points in attracting new residents is the growing job market, particularly the tech field, which features some of the industry’s biggest players, including Apple, Dell, Oracle, Amazon, Facebook, and Google,” the study notes.
In the study, Houston ranks fifth among the country’s top attractors of all renters in 2020. Almost 70 percent of Houston renters came from other places in Texas, with Katy topping the list (8.8 percent).
Two notches down, at No. 7, is Dallas, where Garland accounted for the most incoming renters last year (6.4 percent). Austin lands at No. 11, with Round Rock sending the most renters (6.1 percent). San Antonio sits in the No. 12 spot; the city of Converse led the way for Alamo City’s incoming renters (3.8 percent).
On this, Earth Day, it’s also worth noting that Austin’s dedication to environmental issues could be partially responsible for attracting on-the-move renters. According to a different study from ApartmentGuide that recently ranked the greenest U.S. cities for renters, Austin is the fourth most popular spot, boasting the second highest number of green community rental listings of any city in the entire nation, behind only Houston.
Despite that distinction, Austin ranked lower on the list than fellow Texas cities Plano (No. 3) and San Antonio, the list’s top green city for renters and a town where nearly half the population rents.
