Illinois Invaded by 20,000 from 1 State and It’s Not California

There's an invasion underway and it's coming from an unexpected place. Did you know that nearly 20,000 residents of one state invaded Illinois in the past year and it's not California.

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Illinois is often derided (sometimes deservedly so) for having citizens that move out of the state to another. This is that but in reverse. There's a new study shared by 24/7 Wall St that talks about a true invasion of incoming residents and (spoiler alert), it's not Californians. Oh, and there are plenty of Californians moving to Illinois, too.

Where did these nearly 20,000 residents moving into Illinois come from?

Answer - Texas

The exact number that moved from Texas to Illinois in just one year was 19,949. In other words, 20,000 minus 51. That makes Illinois one of the top 10 states of choice for Texans. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but let's take it as a compliment.

Why exactly would someone choose to move from Texas to Illinois?

Other than the likely obvious answer that it was a job opportunity, I'd like to suggest another. For the past couple of years, Texas has been hit by more cold, winter weather than normal and the power grid down in the Lonestar State has had a hard time keeping up.

I can also hazard a guess that many in Texas are tiring and/or fearful of the ongoing border problems between Texas and Mexico. It's situations like that which may be the reason why so many in Texas are saying "Illinois, here we come".