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California had the largest net loss of Gen Z adults among U.S. states in 2024, while Texas was the most common state destination for Gen Z adults leaving California. But the headline needs two qualifications: these are survey estimates of interstate moves by adults, not counts of every Gen Zer who moved, and Texas did not have the nation’s largest overall net gain. South Carolina did.
What the 2024 estimates show
A LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) one-year public use microdata estimated that 10.7 million of the nation’s 44.6 million Gen Z adults—23.9%—moved to another state or the District of Columbia during 2024. The analysis was published in 2026, but its estimates describe moves in 2024, not migration during 2026. LendingTree’s analysis reports these figures.
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That interstate mobility rate was higher than the corresponding shares for other adult generations in the analysis: 14.0% of millennials, 7.2% of Gen X adults, and 5.2% of baby boomers moved across state lines in 2024. These are shares, not raw counts, which makes them more meaningful for comparing generations of different sizes.
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Did Gen Z residents leave California for Texas?
Yes, more Gen Z adults moved from California to Texas than in the opposite direction in 2024. LendingTree estimated 19,287 moves from California to Texas and 13,362 from Texas to California, a net exchange of 5,925 toward Texas.
That bilateral net flow is different from either state’s overall balance with the rest of the country. California’s estimated net loss of Gen Z adults across all states was 58,109. Texas gained a net 10,720 Gen Z adults across all states. The 5,925 figure describes only the two-way California–Texas exchange; it is not Texas’s statewide net gain.
Which states gained or lost the most Gen Z adults?
California had the largest estimated net loss in the analysis, at 58,109 Gen Z adults in 2024. That is a net figure—arrivals subtracted from departures—not the number who left California.
South Carolina had the largest state net gain, an estimated 22,843 Gen Z adults. Texas gained 10,720 overall. Texas was a major destination, including for Californians, but it was not the leading state by total net gain. State comparisons should distinguish net balances from gross arrivals and departures; a net figure can conceal substantial movement in both directions.
What might explain the moves—and what the data cannot establish
The ACS migration estimates describe where people lived and where they lived one year earlier; they do not identify why any individual moved. LendingTree report author Matt Schulz offered affordability as an interpretation, saying, “Affordability has a lot to do with this.” He also suggested that younger adults may have more flexibility to move because they are less likely to be uprooting a family or changing children’s schools. Those are attributed explanations, not causes measured by the migration analysis. Realtor.com reports Schulz’s comments at its coverage of the findings.
The data do not establish that housing costs, jobs, taxes, or any other single factor caused California’s net loss or Texas’s gains. A state-level pattern should not be read as an explanation of an individual household’s decision.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the Census migration estimates
The Census Bureau describes state-to-state flows by comparing a person’s current state of residence with their state of residence one year earlier. Because ACS figures come from a survey, they are estimates subject to sampling variability and nonsampling error, not a verified count of named individual moves. The Bureau explains the measures in its state-to-state migration guidance and provides the 2024 ACS data product and table notes.
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- Read “net loss” as departures minus arrivals, not as total departures.
- Keep the California-to-Texas two-way flow separate from either state’s all-destination net balance.
- Do not compare one-year ACS migration estimates directly with decennial-census five-year estimates: the Census Bureau says their previous-residence reference periods differ.
- Keep the cohort definition and observation year consistent when comparing states or age groups.
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