Have you ever thought about the place you live in, why do you live in? Literature says, “Home is where the heart is.”, the heart cannot validate any place as a home, especially if an individual has grown up with certain features, such as the internet, technologies, diversity, and social consciousness. This is the case of millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, the parents of Generation Alpha, who are comparatively educated and tech-savvy. Texas is definitely one of their go-to places if they have decided to shift.
Let’s take a look at why:
Cultural Diversity and Weather
Texas offers an enriched culture, with diverse people and varied cultures. The majority of the people are white (77.4%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (40.2%), African American (13.4%) and Asian (5.7%). These diversifying groups and their blended cultures offer year-round festivities to the Texians. The vibrant nightlife of Dallas and the natural beauty of San Antonio add extra bliss to the city's cultural diversity. In addition, the year-round warm weather doesn’t limit the outdoor plan of Texians for a particular month but around the year. This is generally tough in New York, as the Summer is hot, with 42.3°F to 58°F and the Winter is harsh, with 33.4°F to 38.9°F, along with long cold spells. Therefore, millennials will likely move to Texas to join those festivities and blend with their desired cultures.
Education
Texas has many educational institutions, from public and private schools to community colleges and universities. Around 831 charter schools are situated in Texas, and many offer home language education. Children can get an education in approximately 130 languages suitable to their mother tongue. This unique opportunity is attractive to millennials. Oftentimes, they fear their children will not recognize their own cultures while growing up in a foreign country. Therefore, millennials are positive about moving to a place, where they can gain, preserve, and securely pass their cultures to the next generation. Also, top-ranked research institutes, such as the University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, Texas A&M University, and Baylor University are situated in Texas, which attract the aspirant millennials to settle down and shoot for their goals.
Employment Opportunities
Available job opportunities are another crucial aspect for the Millenials. Their grown-up with technologies, as a first generation, naturally inclines them to tech-oriented jobs. Texas is a hub of such popular technological companies. This includes Dell, Google, Apple, and Oracle, which advertised 243,700 employment posts as of June 2023. Besides the tech companies, the oil, health, technology, and education sectors have heavy investments in Texas. As of June 2023, there have been 782,000 job openings in Texas, where the unemployment ratio against the job openings was 0.8, which is less than 1, meaning employers need more employees than their job openings. Among the job sectors, the information industry has grown 6.1%, competing with other USA states, from February 2020 to June 2023; the business industry has grown to 7.5%. Besides these formal jobs, blue-collar jobs have also flourished in Texas, in the last three decades, the construction sector has boomed by 4.5%, followed by goods-producing and service-producing. This proportionate balance of blue and white-collar jobs is even more lucrative for the millennials, as some will manage their education cost from blue-collar jobs while others will shoot the stars.
Cost of Living
The cost of living is very low in Texas compared to New York and ranks 15th across the United States with the lowest cost of living. One of the reasons behind the low cost of living is the ample empty lands in Texas, which drives real estate investors to build properties and provide sustainable living for the communities. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Austin costs $1,299 whereas it costs $2,574 in Manhattan. The state income tax is waived in Texas, which offers saving scope for the millennials. Also, when people need to choose between renting an apartment or buying it, millennials will vote for the latter. Texas is more economical to buy houses, with a median home price of $348,000, whereas New York exhibits a much higher price, with a median value of $490,000. The cities, such as El Paso, Laredo, and Brownsville in Texas, exhibit much lower living prices than other cities' national average living prices.
Odd in the Trend
Amid the massive migration from New York City, some fringe areas, such as Westchester County, in the Southern part of Downstate New York, bordered by the Hudson River, still preserve unique features, such as lakefront and riverfront houses, which will undoubtedly make think the Millennials of their relocation decisions. According to the record of Century 21 Hire Realty, 1238 houses have been listed for sale in Westchester County, New York, with an average value of $697,000. Its beautiful lakefront and riverfront houses are the odds, for which Millennials can turn around and settle down. Such houses with unique features and sustainable prices, will be difficult to find in land-locked areas or coastal areas often threatened by Hurricanes and floods, such as Houston Texas, and Florida.
Lower Tax Burden
Texas is among one of the eight states, which has waived the personal income tax for its citizens. The corporate income tax is also free for the Texians. In New York, individuals must pay 4 to 10.9 percent income taxes based on their income, citizenship status, etc. The unique constitution of Texas state has brought this advantage to its citizens. Other taxes do exist in Texas. This includes sales tax, franchise tax, property tax, hotel tax, cigarette tax, etc. The state incurs a 6.25% sales tax on its goods, and sometimes local tax is added, for which some cities count 8.25% of the overall sales taxes. The millennials may find this lower tax burden a scope to improve their savings.
Conclusion
Millennials are not like any other generation. Their unique characteristics, developed with education and global connectedness, stand out their mindsets from the previous one. They are more self-conscious, and opportunist, therefore savings, low cost of living, and diversity influence their migration decisions. All of these demands best match Texas, from 2018 the city has witnessed a mammoth movement of millennials from New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The Texas Demographic Center’s report confirms that around 40.5% of Millennials have relocated to Texas from 2021 to 2022. This evidence proves that more millennials are migrating and will migrate to Texas from New York.
