Here's How Many People Are Leaving The Hotel California And Checking Into DFW

From the arrival of the In-N-Out burger chain to the open-air retail shopping mall concept and breezy environmentally sound high-end homes, Dallas-Fort Worth for a long time has mirrored the commercial and residential trends of Southern California.

Now, a report from CommercialCafé is putting numbers behind everyone’s suspicion that Californians themselves are flocking to the Metroplex.

In a study, the group found DFW gained more than 30,000 residents from other U.S. cities annually between 2013 and 2017, making it the fourth-most-popular transplant destination in the U.S.

DFW alone gained about 9,495 residents relocating from Los Angeles on an annual basis during this time period, making LA the second-most-popular metro for DFW transplants to relocate from in the past nine years.

Houston, however, sent the most transplants to DFW with roughly 15,000 Houston residents moving to DFW annually.

Austin came in third with more than 8,000 Austinites heading to DFW each year.

Other cities from out of state were also big sources of population growth for DFW, including New York (about 6,500 transplants a year) and Chicago (a little over 5,000), according to CommercialCafé data.

Dallas Skyline
Dallas skyline

LA residents weren’t only flocking to DFW during the four-year period studied. Former residents of the heavily populated Southern California city also relocated to Phoenix to the tune of about 12,000 people each year.

Even though the Californication of Texas is a well-explored trend in the DFW area — the Texas governor even warned about it — people leaving Los Angeles still mostly choose to stay in California.

More than 84,000 people relocate to California's Inland Empire each year from the Los Angeles area, according to CommercialCafé. The Inland Empire is a California area made up of several cities in western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County.

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