Seeing stars

Dallas usurps Austin as No. 1 destination for California movers, report says

The Californians keep on coming.

Photo courtesy of PODS

Although U.S News & World Reportmay not agree, Californians defecting from their home state think Dallas is the best place in the world to live. Even better - shocker! - than Austin.

So says a new report by moving and storage company PODS, which crunched their numbers to determine that Dallas was the No. 1 destination for Californians on the move in 2022. Unsurprisingly, Texas was also the top-ranked state.

"It’s only taken a few years, but Dallas has usurped Austin as the top spot for people moving from California to Texas," the study's authors say.

The bottom line for these movers? Money. A side-by-side comparison of Dallas and Sacramento shows that although median household income is less in Dallas than in Sacramento, cost of living, housing costs, and rent are also significantly less. The report says:

Cost of living: Dallas is 17% lower than Sacramento.
Median household income: $58,200 (Dallas is 18% lower than Sacramento.)
Average home value: $309,900 (Dallas is 33% lower than Sacramento.)
Average rent (one-bedroom): $1,575 (Dallas is 15% lower than Sacramento, with apartments as big as 805 square feet going for $1,500 a month in the city.)

And let's not forget that Texas has no state income tax. (How could we forget? It's mentioned in every study about why people are moving to Texas.) Californians, on the other hand, pay as much as 13.3% in state income tax, PODS says.

"All this adds up to more bang for your buck and an adjusted quality of life," the report says.

Other appealing attributes about Dallas cited in the report include access to several professional sports teams, and a rich nightlife full of bars, restaurants, live music, culture, and art. Dallas-Fort Worth - together, making up the fourth-largest metro area in the U.S. - also has North America's best airport to keep people connected.

In a similar PODS report from 2022, Dallas-Fort Worth was the No. 2 destination for new residents (from all over, not just California) who used their services.

According to PODS, the top 5 destinations for people leaving California are:

No. 1 – Dallas
No. 2 – Seattle, Washington
No. 3 – Portland, Oregon
No. 4 – Nashville, Tennessee
No. 5 – Boise, Idaho

In PODS' newest analysis of destination states for Californians, Texas still comes out on top. The overall cost of living in the Lone Star State is 37 percent lower than California, they said. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is under $1,300, which is 44 percent less than an equivalent apartment in the Golden State.

"For many finance-strained Californians, the pandemic was the final push they needed to call it quits and move to the Lone Star State, where cities like Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston — all cities that made the top 15 out-of-state destinations for Californians — offer up sunny weather, job opportunities, and culture," the report said.

The top destination states for people leaving California are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Florida
No. 3 – Washington
No. 4 – Tennessee
No. 5 – Oregon

dallas reports texas destinations rankings

Turkey Day news

Dallas eats up top-5 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Photo courtesy of Razzoo's

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Dallas is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

Dallas ranked No. 5 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a huge leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 17, and remains the highest-ranking Texas city.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The category that Dallas ranked the highest in was the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 2), and the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 9), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 82). Other categories that determined Dallas' overall ranking were affordability (No. 60), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 26).

Dallas restaurants are getting prepared for their big Turkey Day feasts, and CultureMap has rounded up a thorough list of all of the local restaurants hosting holiday feasts, from brunch to dinner.

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, Dallas will be fully decked for the December holidays. Dallasites who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. Dallas-Fort Worth goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Across North Texas, three Dallas-area cities also made big improvements from their 2023 rankings. Irving moved up 10 spots to claim No. 19 this year, and Garland jumped up 21 spots on the list as No. 34. Arlington made the biggest improvement in the region, moving from No. 78 last year to No. 55 this year.

Meanwhile, Plano and Fort Worth slipped in the rankings, falling into No. 44 and No. 45 in 2024, respectively. Plano previously ranked No. 38 in 2023, and Fort Worth was No. 36.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

dallas fort worth thanksgiving wallethub rankings