Texas
I live in Texas and I'm not surprised so many people are moving here — I'm surprised where they're choosing to settle
In the early 2000s, my parents and I, originally from Liberia, moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We’d spent a few years in Massachusetts, where the winters were chilly and the cost of living was more burdensome.
Texas became a haven for my parents — young immigrants striving to make their mark in a country that, at times, felt overwhelmingly unfamiliar and challenging. To them, the state represented many things: A place they could actually save money and get ahead, but that also carried some of the values of hard work and community they left across the Atlantic.
Some two decades on, my parents have accomplished so much. They’ve sent me and my brother to college, launched their own appliance-repair business, and even constructed their dream home — all in DFW.
Given the success they’ve attained in Texas, it’s no wonder to me that the state continues to draw the interest of so many people. Between 2021 and 2022, Texas gained 670,000 new residents, according to Census Bureau data — the second-most of any state, behind only Florida. Recent transplants to Texas have shared with Business Insider in interviews that their moves were motivated by more affordable home and rent prices, political freedom, a slower pace of life, and more.
As a Texan, it’s unsurprising that these factors have lured hundreds of thousands of people to the state over the past few years. What intrigues me even more is where, exactly, transplants are pursuing the American dream in Texas and how that’s changed since my family touched down on its soil.
P A Thompson/Getty Images
Rather than relocating to the largest cities in the state, newcomers and long-time residents are increasingly opting for places viewed as secondary cities or suburbs — areas like New Braunfels, nestled in the heart of the Texas hill country between San Antonio and Austin, and Katy, situated 30 minutes west of Houston.
Census data that compares Texas’ city populations between 2020 and mid-2022 estimates reveals that smaller spots, including New Braunfels and Katy, saw their populations surge. Meanwhile, major metropolises like Austin, Houston, and Dallas witnessed minimal growth — and sometimes even net population declines.
I set out to figure out why.
Larger Texas cities are losing appeal for some
Many friends and I had aspirations of moving from our small college town to Dallas or Austin — cities that, back then, appeared larger than life to us.
However, years post-graduation, many who ventured to these large cities have either returned to their smaller hometowns or established roots in the suburbs surrounding those dense metropolises.
They’re looking for affordability and a more joyful way of life — ingredients that can be harder to find in bigger Texas cities.
Evan Semones
Take Austin, for example. A surge in new residents driven by a blossoming Big Tech scene and an upswing in remote work nationwide has reshaped its essence. Once known for its laid-back atmosphere and a plethora of mom-and-pop shops, some people now believe the city features too many cookie-cutter buildings, upscale restaurants, and traffic jams that diminish its “small-town” charm. The arrival of transplants with higher incomes has also elevated housing costs, pricing out locals and dissuading prospective homebuyers who once had aspirations of owning in the city.
Each month, the home-listings site Redfin analyzes the number of people in cities across the US who browse for properties within their own city compared to those who house-hunt outside of where they already live. Redfin sees the comparison as an indicator of whether more people are looking to stay or leave a city.
Austin? For the first time on record, Redfin reported in October, it has more people dreaming of a move out.
Homebuyers are drawn to Texas’ smaller cities
The cultural and economic shifts observed in Austin are playing out in large cities all over Texas.
As a result, many homebuyers are seeking out more affordable and down-to-earth secondary cities such as Katy and New Braunfels. Both areas are among the fastest-growing cities in the US, according to census data.
The concept of the American Dream has historically regarded owning a home as a crucial milestone. Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with several homebuyers who said that they had a greater chance of pursuing the homeownership element of the (very pricey) American Dream in Texas — and in secondary cities in particular.
Courtesy of Keyana Darling
In October, I interviewed Keyana Darling, a 29-year-old single mother who moved to Katy earlier this year. Prior to our conversation, Katy — a city west of Houston known for, among other things, great schools — wasn’t really on my radar. It had only caught my attention after hearing it mentioned in Drake’s 2020 pop hit “Desire.”
Darling told me that before moving to Katy, she lived in a high-rise rental apartment in downtown Houston that cost $2,900 a month. Then she became concerned about her family’s safety.
“There were apartment and car break-ins, and the homelessness situation was just crazy,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t walk my dog outside.”
After visiting a friend in Katy, she felt motivated to move to the city herself, believing that its relatively cheaper real estate offered her a better chance at homeownership than Houston.
“My friend was younger than me, so I thought if she could buy a home there, I could, too,” she said.
Darling was right. In August, she purchased a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home for $324,000.
She told me that moving to Katy not only gave her a chance to build generational wealth for her children, but also provide them with neighbors who feel like family.
“Katy is very diverse, and I actually love it,” Darling said. “Being a Black single mother, the fact that I have so many different neighbors who all come from different backgrounds and races and are genuinely good people is huge.”
Courtesy of Janelle Crossan
Just this week, I caught up with California native Janelle Crossan, a 44-year-old single mother who also opted for smaller-town life in Texas. She chose New Braunfels, a town between Austin and San Antonio best known for its German heritage and the iconic Schlitterbahn Waterpark.
“I realized that a lot of the things that I wanted to get away from in California might also just be big-city things, so I decided to try something new,” she said. “I just want my whole life to be different. I put my brakes down in New Braunfels, and I absolutely love it here.”
Crossan, a divorcée who struggled to make ends meet in the California town of Mesa, was also seeking an affordable place to buy a home and a “cute and nice place to raise kids.” After moving to New Braunfels in 2020, Crossan went on to purchase her first home for $240,000.
“I paid $1,750 for rent in a crappy little apartment in California,” Crossan told Business Insider’s Erin 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.”
Reviewing all of the evidence, I had my answer.
Glimmers of possibility and opportunity, the same American Dream my parents sought, are now drawing movers to smaller spots, where movers believe that lower costs of living and close-knit communities are more attainable.
Diving into the census data with the help of BI’s economic data editor Andy Kiersz, I saw that the Texas towns and cities with the most population growth are indeed outside big cities. Populations more than doubled in Josephine, Caddo Mills, and Celina, all outside my family’s home of DFW. In Liberty Hill, outside Austin. And in Fulshear, outside Houston.
It’s unsurprising to me that so many Americans are chasing the American dream in Texas. Despite challenges like higher property taxes, divisive politics, and an antiquated energy grid, the state remains a desirable place to live.
Perhaps what’s more interesting, at least to me, is the rise of what could be called Texas’ underdog cities. It highlights just how much things have changed since my parents arrived in Texas to realize their own dreams more than two decades ago.
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill to resuscitate the state’s nuclear power industry through a taxpayer-funded incentives program. State Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine in East Texas, proposed allocating $2 billion toward a fund to create the Texas Advanced Nuclear Deployment Office.
The bill proposes using public dollars to help fund nuclear construction, provide grants for reactors and fund development research. HB 14 would also create a state coordinator to assist in the state and federal permitting processes.
Harris told members of the Texas House’s Committee on State Affairs last week that Texas needs long-term energy solutions as the strain on the state’s electric grid increases from the expansion of data centers and other energy-intensive industries.
Texas has become too reliant on intermittent energy sources like wind and solar, he said. Harris called investing in nuclear energy a strategic imperative for the U.S. A global race for energy dominance is underway with immense national security implications, he said.
We’re hiring!
Please take a look at the new openings in our newsroom.
See jobs
“By passing this bill, Texas will become the epicenter of a national nuclear renaissance,” Harris said. “Texas will attract billions in private capital investments and create tens of thousands of high-wage jobs for Texans up and down the nuclear value chain.”
A week earlier, at the annual energy conference CERAWeek in Houston, nuclear power was being highly touted by both U.S. government officials and Big Tech.
Throughout the conference, nuclear reactors were described as an answer for the increasing power demands from data centers and artificial intelligence—if the technology can scale.
Texas’ electric grid has four large nuclear power units at two sites, including two at Comanche Peak, located some 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth. On a typical day, they produce enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes, according to the plant’s owner, Vistra Corp.
Comanche Peak’s second unit, completed in 1993, is the most recent large nuclear reactor to come online in Texas.
A small, one megawatt molten salt test reactor is under construction beneath a newly completed laboratory at Abilene Christian University, in an underground trench. Abilene-based Natura Resources is one of just two companies with permits from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a so-called “advanced” reactor that is set to be completed in 2027.
The other company, California-based Kairos Power, is building its 35-megawatt test reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the 80-year capital of American nuclear power science.
Gov. Greg Abbott has been bullish in recent years about making Texas a leader in nuclear power. In August 2023, Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas to form a working group to study and plan for the use of advanced nuclear reactors across the state.
That task force recommended in November 2024 the state put aside $5 billion toward a nuclear fund. Former Public Utility Commission of Texas member Jimmy Glotfelty testified in support of the new bill at last week’s hearing after spending 14 months on the task force.
He said the bill would put Texas on the path to being a leader of a renewed nuclear industry. If done right, long-term, Texas could see an addition of more than 100,000 jobs and more than $50 billion to the state economy, Glotfelty said, based on an economic study the task force commissioned from the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Everybody in the nuclear space would like to build plants here in Texas,” Glotfelty said. “We are the low regulatory, low cost state. We have the supply chain. We have the labor. And what this bill will do will put us a leg up on every other state.”
NextEra Energy Resources, a Florida-based clean energy power company, is considering bringing its shuttered nuclear plant in Iowa back online. It’s a move that a few years ago, NextEra wouldn’t have even thought about, said Michele Wheeler, the company’s vice president of regulatory and political affairs.
The company is also working with Dow and X-energy as the two companies develop an advanced small nuclear reactor technology at a Seadrift, Texas, site. It’s based on high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology, whereas Natura Resources’ project in Abilene uses liquid-fueled and molten salt-cooled technology.
In order for American production of nuclear power to be affordable and successful, someone has to be first, Wheeler said. “Everyone’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be second,’ right? So how do you make the right incentives for those that go first to have the upside and the benefit of taking the risk?” Wheeler said at a breakfast session at CERAWeek about Texas power.
“Everybody in the nuclear space would like to build plants here in Texas.”
— Jimmy Glotfelty, former Public Utility Commission of Texas member
That’s where Texas can step in, said Thomas Gleeson, chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission. With a $23 billion surplus, the state has the ability to partner with private industry to ensure Texas leads the way with nuclear power, Gleeson said.
Gleeson sees nuclear as a solution to the massive new power demands in the state’s forecasts. As he travels the country, he’s been telling people that Texas is not in an energy transition but an energy expansion.
“I need more of pretty much everything,” Gleeson said. “If you care about the environment, if you care about clean air, I’m glad that you love batteries and I’m glad that you love wind, I’m glad that you love solar. Fall in love with nuclear—it has to be a part of the solution.”
Despite some of the energy sector’s efforts to bring low-carbon power online, the development of nuclear power has been thwarted by worries of disaster, radioactive waste, a history of projects far exceeding budget and its infamously laborious regulatory requirements.
But nuclear is seemingly having its moment with bipartisan support. Texas Republicans laud the power source’s reliability as they express concern about more of the state’s daily energy demand being met by less expensive but intermittent wind and solar. State Democrats, meanwhile, support adding more low-carbon energy to the grid.
Opponents of the bill called the incentive program a taxpayer handout and urged the power sector to compete in the state’s open energy market.
Cyrus Reed, the conservation and legislative director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter, said unlike the Texas Energy Fund, a piece of legislation that passed in 2023 that awards grants and loans to finance dispatchable, or on demand, generation facilities in Texas, the proposed nuclear fund consists only of grants.
“That’s a very different proposal,” Reed said.
John Umphress, a retired Austin Energy program specialist who is evaluating the nuclear efforts on contract for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, also expressed his concern about funding developers of small modular reactors with public dollars.
The bill outlines three tiers for the funding program. The first tier provides a reimbursement grant for the costs associated with the initial development of an advanced nuclear reactor. It includes expenses like technology development, site planning, design and early permit work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The second tier includes grants of up to $200 million for construction costs for projects with permits under review by the NRC. The third tier awards grants for operating costs once projects are finished.
Both Reed and Umphress warned that companies could see money solely for securing a permit. Such grants, they believe, go beyond a fair incentive.
“They may never, ever operate on the actual grid and they could have up to $200 million of taxpayer funds,” Reed said. “That seems wrong to us.”
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
That’s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can’t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We’ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.
Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.
Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don’t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places?
Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.
Thank you,
Women’s NCAA March Madness: Keys to a deep run
Local reporters break down some of the top teams, and their keys to victory in the 2025 March Madness tournament.
All-American Madison Booker and the No. 1 Texas women’s basketball team hosts No. 8 Illinois in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament today.
The Longhorns are 16-0 at home this season behind Booker, the SEC Player of the Year, who averaged 20.5 points on 45% shooting and 7.6 rebounds over the last eight games. This season marked the first time Texas notched 30 wins since the 2003-04 campaign.
The Illini, powered by forward Kendall Bostic, are looking to make a Sweet 16 appearance for the third time and the first time since 1998. Bostic is averaging 15.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
Here’s how to watch Texas vs. Illinois.
Where to watch Texas vs. Illinois: TV channel, time, live stream
- Game Day: Monday, March 24, 2025
- Game Time: 2 p.m. ET
- Location: Moody Center in Austin, Texas
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live Stream: Fubo – Watch Now!
Watch Texas vs. Illinois on Fubo (free trial)
Texas vs. Illinois odds
Odds via BetMGM as of Sunday, March 23.
- Spread: Texas -18.5
- Moneyline Favorite: Texas -5000
- Moneyline Underdog: Illinois +1400
- Total: 133.5
Women’s NCAA March Madness: Keys to a deep run
Local reporters break down some of the top teams, and their keys to victory in the 2025 March Madness tournament.
The 2025 NCAA women’s tournament is marching on.
Among the afternoon second-round games Monday will be a bout between Texas and Illinois.
Texas women’s basketball (32-3) earned a No. 1 seed in the 2025 women’s March Madness bracket after a dominant regular season and runner-up finish to South Carolina in the 2025 SEC tournament. The Longhorns’ opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini (22-9), advanced after beating Creighton 66-57 on Saturday. Texas beat William & Mary 105-61 in its opener, one of the record six games with a team scoring 100 points in the women’s first round.
Texas, host of the Austin Regional, is undefeated at home this season. Illinois is 6-4 on the road.
Here’s how our experts see Monday’s Round of 32 game playing out. Be sure to check out USA TODAY’s complete March Madness bracket breakdown for in-depth analysis. While you’re at it, don’t forget to read our tournament upset picks and players who could make a splash.
Without further ado, here are our Texas vs. Illinois picks and predictions:
Texas women’s basketball vs Illinois picks and predictions
Our experts from across the USA TODAY Network are unanimous: Texas will win. Take a look at their full bracket predictions.
Nancy Armour, USA TODAY: Texas
Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY: Texas
Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: Texas
Meg L. Hall, For The Win: Texas
Cora Hall, Knoxville News: Texas
Texas vs Illinois time, TV channel, how to watch
- Game Day: Monday, March 24, 2025
- Game Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Moody Center in Austin, Texas
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live Stream: Fubo – Watch Now!
Watch Texas vs. Illinois on Fubo (free trial)
Texas vs. Illinois odds
Odds via BetMGM as of Sunday, March 23.
- Spread: Texas -18.5
- Moneyline Favorite: Texas -5000
- Moneyline Underdog: Illinois +1400
- Total: 133.5
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Gambling involves risk. Please only gamble with funds that you can comfortably afford to lose. While we do our utmost to offer good advice and information we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of gambling. We do our best to make sure all the information that we provide on this site is correct. However, from time to time mistakes will be made and we will not be held liable. Please check any stats or information if you are unsure how accurate they are. No guarantees are made with regards to results or financial gain. All forms of betting carry financial risk and it is up to the individual to make bets with or without the assistance of information provided on this site and we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of following the betting tips provided on this site. Past performances do not guarantee success in the future and betting odds fluctuate from one minute to the next. The material contained on this site is intended to inform, entertain and educate the reader and in no way represents an inducement to gamble legally or illegally or any sort of professional advice.
Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside. It is your sole responsibility to act in accordance with your local laws.
Astonishment in Europe at US security blunder that reveals Trump top team’s suspicion of continent – Europe live
LA Mayor Bass' former rival reveals why he is opposed to her recall campaign
DOGE Madness: ‘Sweet 16’ bracket set up as craziest federal waste competes for championship
New Mexico teens, 13 and 15, charged with murder in hit-and-run of bicyclist posted on social media
Memphis police arrest man after allegedly threatening to ‘butcher’ churchgoers with a machete: police
-
Midwest1 week agoOhio college 'illegally forcing students' to share bathrooms with opposite sex: watchdog
-
News1 week agoFor Canadians Visiting Myrtle Beach, Trump Policies Make the Vibe Chillier
-
News6 days agoTrump Administration Ends Tracking of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russia
-
News7 days agoVance to Lead G.O.P. Fund-Raising, an Apparent First for a Vice President
-
News1 week agoBlack Lives Matter Plaza Is Gone. Its Erasure Feels Symbolic.
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoPerusu Movie Review: Mourning wood provides comedy that won’t go down in history
-
Politics1 week agoHouse Democrats to hold 'Day of Action' to push back against GOP-backed spending bill
-
News1 week agoTrump Orders U.S. Strikes Against Houthi Militant Sites in Yemen