• Gerardo and Tomi Ruiz moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio, Texas, in September.
• They moved with their two young sons after a nearby fire destroyed their rented home.
• The couple loves Texas for its cheaper cost of living and the people but misses California’s food.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gerardo Ruiz, 29, and Tomi Ruiz, 26, native Californians who moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio in 2024. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Gerardo: My wife, Tomi, and I are from San Bernardino, California. We met at a party in 2019 and married last April.

San Bernardino isn’t as nice as it used to be. Many things, like homelessness and gang activity, seem to have gotten worse in recent years.

Tomi: There were things we liked about California. I had family only about an hour away. I loved being in the snow or at the beach whenever I wanted.

We had been talking about leaving California for a while because the cost of living was dramatically increasing. We had discussed Texas, Arizona, or maybe Utah, but we weren’t serious about it.

A fire finally pushed us to leave

Tomi: In September, the Line Fire broke out in Highland, California, next to my grandparents’ house.

We were renting a house on the other side of town. The Line Fire wasn’t directly threatening our house at first, but our neighbor’s home caught fire. They said it started from an ember from the Line Fire.

It was terrifying. We were asleep, and suddenly, my husband woke up to what sounded like a huge explosion. I felt him pushing me and yelling.

When I sat up, I saw flames coming through our bedroom window, not even six feet away.

Gerardo: We have two kids, Anthony, who is 3, and Charlie, who is 1. We grabbed them both and ran outside.

Tomi: We both ran out in our underwear because we didn’t have time to get clothes.

The fire destroyed about half of our house, plus there was smoke damage everywhere.

Gerardo: We lost almost everything in our bedroom and the dining area.

Tomi: We were just in shock. We sat outside staring at the house for a long time.

Gerardo: The Red Cross gave us some money for a hotel.

We had to restart our lives somewhere

Tomi: A few days later, our landlord told us they had to terminate the lease because they couldn’t estimate how long the repairs would take and couldn’t put us in another place in the meantime. We were homeless and realized that we had to start all over again.

We discussed staying in California, but starting a new lease in the state is expensive with a deposit, the first month’s rent, and all the fees.

We figured if we had to start over completely, we’d be better off starting in Texas.

Gerardo: My brother has lived in San Antonio for about 10 years. We came out to visit a few years back and just fell in love with the city.

Tomi: We packed up what we had left, my husband took out his 401(k), and we drove to Texas.

Texas is so much more affordable

Gerardo: Our first impression of Texas was how cheap the rent is. We paid about $2,350 in San Bernardino for a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment. We’re now in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom place in San Antonio and pay $1,250.

Tomi: We first applied for a few houses, but the wait took forever. We decided to apply for an apartment and got approved the next day. We stayed in a hotel for three weeks until we got approved for the apartment.

In addition to rent being cheaper, gas is much cheaper, which is great for us because we have pretty big cars.

Gerardo: Car registration is, too.

Tomi: Groceries, however, seem to be about the same.

While the cost of living is more affordable here, the pay is lower.

I’m a certified phlebotomist, and in California, I was making about $25 an hour. Here in Texas, I got some offers ranging from $16 to $20 an hour, and I accepted one. I’m making less than I was in California, but with the money we’re saving, it’s not too big a difference.

Gerardo: I’m a tow truck driver. I worked two driving jobs in California, making $21 an hour and $24 an hour.

I expected to be able to find a similar job in Texas, but once I got here, it was more difficult than I thought. The highest-paying towing job I could find was for a little more than $15 an hour.

For now, I’ve been holding off on getting a job to watch the kids since we don’t know many people here in Texas who could babysit.

The state has exceeded our expectations

Tomi: We just fell in love with Texas. It’s so much greener than we expected. We thought it would be all desert and cowboys, but San Antonio has many nice parks and playgrounds. It feels very family-oriented.

Gerardo: The environment out here is great. My wife has some PTSD from the fire, and it’s nice that it’s not as dry.

Tomi: You definitely feel the Texas heat, though. It was still so hot on Halloween. We’re used to a breeze in October.

It also snowed since we’ve been here, which is uncommon for San Antonio. We love the snow.

There have been some challenges, but we made the right choice

Gerardo: The hardest adjustment has been the food. Even the McDonald’s here tastes different. Texas street tacos are not like California street tacos at all.

There was incredible Hawaiian barbecue in California. Since we moved, I haven’t been able to find similar food.

Tomi: Texas has been so good to us. I felt like I was home right away. I feel like I’ve connected with the people. Everyone is so kind.

Gerardo: Our goal is to stay in Texas long-term, but we want to move to Amarillo, Texas, eventually. It snows there more often, and we love the cold.

Tomi: I’m so glad we moved. It was scary when we decided to do it, but we had nothing to lose and made it work.

Gerardo: The recent fires in Los Angeles were terrible, and we’re praying for everyone involved.

The reassurance of not having to worry about wildfires here like we did in California has been a huge plus already.