Aerial shot of Austin, TX skyline during a summer golden hour.
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People selecting Texas over the Golden State cited affordability as a key factor. But for some, it’s come with different costs: dense traffic, a lack of dependable public transportation and scorching heat that transplants say is lowering their quality of life. An August report from Insider found that tech workers in particular are getting fed up with Texas, frustrated that career opportunities just aren’t as plentiful as they are in Silicon Valley.
As a result, people are moving out of the Lone Star State, or at the very least are considering it. Using U.S. Postal Service data, Insider found that from January to May this year, Austin saw the fifth-largest net outward migration among major U.S. cities, trailing New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, which actually ranked No. 1 among cities that saw the most people leave during that stretch.
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As recent as a few years ago, many felt Texas had a promising chance to advance their career ambitions in tech. Gov. Greg Abbott courted Californians by promising “less government” and “smarter regulations,” and in 2021, Houston ranked No. 2 for growing tech markets during the pandemic. However, the policies Abbott has pushed have led some to think Texas is now among the worst states to live and work.
Austin’s status as a tech hub has seen a boom in recent years, leading to a high tech-job concentration. Companies like Oracle moved its headquarters from California to Texas’ capital city, along with Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk—and workers decided to follow.
But old Austin attitudes have clashed with the enterprising mindset of bosses in the tech industry. Founder and angel investor Mike Chang lamented to Insider that “Austin is where ambition goes to die.”
Chang also shared his disappointment over a talent disparity between San Francisco and Austin, and other reports tend to agree. CBRE’s list of the top tech talent markets put Austin outside the top five while San Francisco enjoyed the No. 1 spot. A major reason for that is tech talent being almost 12 percent of total employment in the San Francisco Bay Area, whereas the average is 5.6 percent in other cities.
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But while the ambition is alive, Austin garners high interest from professionals, ranking among the best cities to live in when considering factors like quality of life and the economy even before the pandemic, and serving as one of the top metros young people in the state turn to when looking for opportunities after graduation.
