April 07, 2009

Houston Business Journal

A new report from online consumer resource group Relocation.com backs up recent Census data showing that Texas continues to see a population influx as people move from other parts of the country being more seriously affected by the recession.

The report, which analyzes interstate moves involving Texas from the beginning of 2007 through the first quarter of 2009, shows that 62 percent of such moves over the 27-month period were people moving to Texas, while just 38 percent were leaving. For 2008, Texas ranked fourth in the country for percentage of moves into the state.

The report shows that all major Texas cities apart from El Paso have more people moving in than leaving.

In Houston, 54 percent of moving quote requests were incoming, while 46 percent were for moving out of the city. Austin had 60 percent of requests for moving in and 40 percent for leaving, while San Antonio had 57 percent incoming and 43 percent leaving and Dallas-Fort Worth had 56 percent inbound and 44 percent outbound.

"With many consumers moving to find better job opportunities or standard of living, we are seeing strong interest in Texas," said Sharon Asher, chairman and founder of Relocation.com. "Our analysis of the data over the last couple of years shows the state is continuing to move in a positive direction."