Austin, TX

Cities to watch in 2024: This Texas hub is attracting more homebuyers than Austin and Dallas with its affordability and jobs

Published

2 years ago

January 1, 2024

Cities to watch in 2024: This Texas hub is attracting more homebuyers than Austin and Dallas with its affordability and jobs

Anna Lagos, 38, moved to Texas from California in 2014 with her husband and two children, joining her parents and most of her siblings who had already relocated to the state.

Lagos, a realtor, believed that Texas would offer her family a better chance at realizing the homeownership component of the often expensive American dream.

“The opportunities were much greater for us in Texas than they were in California,” Lagos told Business Insider. “We always wanted to own a home. It was pretty evident that we’d have to work for many years before we’d be able to purchase one in California.”

During the early years after their move, Lagos and her husband lived in San Antonio and Austin. However, in 2021, driven by a desire for greater affordability and to be even closer to her parents, who had already established themselves in New Braunfels, the couple moved to the small city in Central Texas.

The Lagos family.

Courtesy of Anna Lagos

Lagos, who bought a 2,700-square-foot home for $325,000 in New Braunfels, said she fell in love with its “small-town” charm.

“I wouldn’t say that it is a small town anymore, but somehow it still manages to retain the feeling of a small town,” she said, adding it’s one of those places ” you won’t find anywhere else.”

Over the past few years, hundreds of thousands of people have moved to the Lone Star state, drawn by its affordable housing, political environment, and abundant job opportunities. According to Census Bureau data, Texas welcomed 670,000 new residents between 2021 and 2022, ranking second to Florida.

While big cities like Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio have traditionally been real estate hotspots, recent Census estimates from 2020 to mid-2022 show that smaller places, such as New Braunfels and Katy, have experienced significant population growth, while their larger counterparts have seen minimal growth — or in some cases, population declines. It’s a trend that may persist as Americans continue to reassess notions of affordability and community.

BI interviewed homebuyers and real estate agents to explore the factors contributing to New Braunfels’ rising popularity. Residents said its rich German heritage, tight-knit community, rapidly expanding business sector, and affordable real estate market have made it an ideal place to raise a family and settle down.

One of the fastest-growing cities in America

New Braunfels has emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities in the US. Census data shows that its population has surged by over 15% since 2020. As of July 2022, the city’s population has reached 104,707.

Its growth is as remarkable as its origin story: Evolving from a humble settlement founded by a German prince to a thriving and rapidly expanding city.

In 1844, Prince Carl of Soms–Braunfels, a German prince and military officer, was appointed the commissioner of the Adelsverein, a group of aristocrats united with the singular aim of creating a “new Germany” on Texan soil.

Although New Germany was never realized, the colony succeeded, and to this day, New Braunfels retains much of its German heritage.

Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort.

Erich Schlegel/Getty Images

The city, which is home to the famous Schlitterbahn Waterpark, hosts the annual Wurstfest celebration — a 10-day German cultural festival dedicated to sausages and Oktoberfest. Drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world, it has become an internationally famous event.

The city’s economy and job sector are booming

New Braunfels’ economy is growing rapidly alongside its population. A 2023 report from the New Braunfels Economic Development Foundation shows that the city’s gross regional product — a measure of an area’s economy — reached $2.8 billion in 2021, nearly double the amount from a decade earlier.

The EDC also reports that since 2003 the city has created 16,434 new jobs. In 2022, New Braunfels welcomed a $110 million automotive manufacturing plant by Continental, a tech company serving major car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, Porsche, which will create more than 500 new jobs. Additionally, business outsourcing company TaskUs increased its operations in the city, adding 750 new positions.

“When I was growing up here, you worked at the mill, or you worked for local government, and there were ancillary jobs to those, but there weren’t many opportunities for employment,” Mayor Neal Linnartz, told the San Antonio Express News in July. “Nowadays, there are so many opportunities that when kids get out of school, they don’t have to leave New Braunfels to find good employment. We have good jobs here.”

According to the Texas Economic Development Corporation, key industries in New Braunfels encompass financial services, information technology, aerospace, and aviation, as well as military and tourism.

The homes are attractive to homebuyers

According to software data company Payscale, the cost of living in New Braunfels is 15% below the national average. [is this for 2022?]

Easton Smith, the founder of the Emerald Haus Group with Keller Williams, moved from Oxnard, California, to New Braunfels in 2016. He told BI that the area’s affordability is really what’s winning people over.

“What I can speak of, on behalf of our clients and ourselves, is that the affordability here is greater,” he said. “What you’ll find is people want to come here and spend less and have more freedom.”

Regan Bender/Shutterstock

Take Janelle Crossan, a 44-year-old single mother who moved to New Braunfels in 2020 for a fresh start with her son.

Having faced financial challenges as a divorcée in Mesa, California, she sought an affordable place to buy a home and a stable environment for her family. After moving to the city, she purchased her first home for $240,000.

“I paid $1,750 for rent in a crappy little apartment in California,” Crossan told BI’sErin Snodgrass earlier this year. “Now, three years later, my whole payment, including mortgage and property taxes, is $1,800 a month for my three-bedroom house.”

The city is experiencing growing pains

Crossan told BI she’s been amazed by New Braunfels’ growth since moving there in 2020 but believes that the expansion has strained the local infrastructure.

“We have construction everywhere,” she said. “I really can’t complain because I’m one of the people who are helping the area grow bigger, but there’s so much traffic.”

Doney Cowey, a realtor with Keller Williams who moved to New Braunfels 32 years ago, told BI that the city’s growth is pushing some locals out.

“At the time I moved here, the town had a population of 19,000,” Cowey said. “The dynamics have changed now that we have at least 100,000 people in the surrounding area. We get people that are moving here because it’s a small town and we also have people moving away because it’s gotten too big.”

Lagos, who now runs a Facebook group for newcomers moving to New Braunfels said there has been some tension between locals and transplants.

“A lot of people, especially those that grew up here, feel like all the people coming in have ruined the small town that they were used to and have driven up prices,” she said. “A lot of them are priced out of their homes right now, unfortunately.”

Janelle Crossan and her son moved from Costa Mesa, California, to New Braunfels, Texas, in November 2020.

Courtesy of Janelle Crossan

Despite the tension, Crossan remains optimistic about New Braunfels, emphasizing its safe and ideal place to live.

“It still has, I hate to say, but the American dream, in a timeframe when people feel like they can’t afford to buy houses and don’t have the same privileges of older generations,” she said. “This is an affordable, fun, cute, nice place to raise kids. I didn’t think that still existed anymore.”

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Austin, TX

Austin activists hold anti-ICE protests following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Austin activists hold anti-ICE protests following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis

Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.

Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.

Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”

“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”

Lorianne Willett

KUT News

Spray painted messages appeared outside of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville

Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.

Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”

“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”

Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.

A group of protesters holding yellow signs reading "ICE Out of our Communities" gather during a night time protest. — Protesters gathered and held signs during a protest against ICE.

Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.

“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”

The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.

The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.

Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.

Protesters bang on the outside of a building built of metal. — Protesters bang on the outside of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.

State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.

Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.

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Austin, TX

Flesh-eating screwworm may be moving closer to Texas on its own, ag commissioner says

Published

14 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Flesh-eating screwworm may be moving closer to Texas on its own, ag commissioner says

article

AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas agency is concerned that the flesh-eating New World screwworm could be getting closer to Texas without commercial livestock movement.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is sounding the alarm again for livestock owners to remain vigilant in watching for signs of the parasite in their animals.

Screwworm sighting near Texas

The latest:

Miller said in a Thursday release that a screwworm had been detected in a cow in González, Tamaulipas, a little more than 200 miles from the southern Texas border.

According to the commissioner, the cow had no reported history of movement outside Tamaulipas, and is the third active case reported there.

Officials in Mexico have not reported a known population of the worm in Tamaulipas. They’re working with U.S. authorities to investigate further into the new case.

What they’re saying:

“The screwworm now may be moving closer on its own, with no apparent link to commercial animal movement,” Commissioner Miller said. “Texas producers must act now—stay informed, stay vigilant, and prepare immediately. We cannot drop our guard for even a moment.”

Inspect livestock for screwworm

What you can do:

Miller urged immediate action from ranchers along the Texas border.

“Inspect your animals daily,” Miller said. “Check every open wound. If anything looks suspicious, report it right away. Better a false alarm than a delayed response—early detection and rapid reporting are our strongest defenses against this devastating pest.”

U.S. plan to fight screwworm in Texas

Big picture view:

The threat to cattle has been deemed so potentially devastating to the U.S. food supply that the federal government is committing $850 million to fight it.

Most of that money will be spent on building a sterile male fly production facility near the border.

The facility will produce 300 million sterile male flies a week to be dropped into target areas where the screwworm is now. Those male flies help to reduce the population size through mating without reproducing.

A much smaller portion of the funding will be used for screwworm detection technology.

In addition, the federal government has already spent $21 million on a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.

What are New World screwworms?

Dig deeper:

The insect gets its name because it’s only found in the Americas.

It lays its eggs in the open wounds of animals, and its larvae become parasites, threatening livestock, domestic animals, and even people.

The screwworm was mostly eradicated in Texas and the rest of the United States in the 60s. But now, it’s moving north up from Panama and has a known presence a little over 300 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border.

The Source: Information in this article comes from Sid Miller.

Texas

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Austin, TX

LD Systems expands Texas Footprint with Austin Location and welcomes ILIOS Productions — TPi

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

LD Systems expands Texas Footprint with Austin Location and welcomes ILIOS Productions — TPi

For over two decades, ILIOS Productions has been a key part of the live events community in Austin, TX, transforming spaces and audience experiences with a vast range of lighting and video design, as well as event production services across a diverse client portfolio. Now, with the backing of parent company Clair Global, LD Systems, a Houston-based premier provider of audio, video, and lighting for event production and installed technology solutions, is welcoming ILIOS Productions to the team, marking the group’s fourth location in Texas. ILIOS Productions will now operate under the LD Systems brand.

LD Systems will further resource ILIOS’ existing Austin operation to include additional services such as audio and rigging for live events, as well as integration solutions and services. This addition helps round out LD Systems’ ability to locally serve major metropolitan areas across Texas, including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin and reflects Clair Global’s continued focus on offering global resources while maintaining strong local-market expertise and responsiveness.

ILIOS Productions’ experience spans the concert and festival sector, corporate and activations, and high-end private, philanthropic and charitable events. The company’s commitment to critical event delivery has established trust with major brands including Lollapalooza, SXSW, Austin City Limits, Google, YouTube, the University of Texas System and many more.

Founder, President & Sr Ops Manager of ILIOS Productions, Bryan Azar, said: “After many years of working alongside LD Systems in Austin and beyond, we are delighted to be joining their world-class organisation. This is an exciting new chapter for a bolder future together.”

Zach Boswell, General Manager, ILIOS Productions, added: “We are passionate about the work we do, and the community and business culture found at LD Systems is the ideal next step for our dedicated employees to progress as a united workforce.“

LD Systems co-founder and President, Rob McKinley commented: “We are delighted to amplify our service offerings in Austin with the addition of Bryan and his exceptional team of technology professionals. They have made a significant difference to many Texans with the work they undertake, and LD Systems is proud to welcome both their talent and ethos to the company.”

Building on this momentum, LD Systems also announced plans to expand its San Antonio facility into a new location in January 2026. Together with the addition of ILIOS Productions in Austin, this investment reinforces the organisation’s long-term investment in Texas and its dedication to meeting growing client demand with enhanced capacity and infrastructure.

www.ldsystems.com

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