One reason I love my home state – and many Texans share this value with me – Texas is a place where freedom reigns.

It gets hot in Texas in the summer, but my home state gets even more heat from critics for its politics, policies and even cowboy culture.

Case in point: In the new film “Civil War,” guess which states pair up to fight the federal government? Texas and California.

That actually could be believable − because so many Californians are fleeing the Golden State for the Lone Star State.

Hate Texas all you want, but last year, for the sixth time in eight years, Texas’ population grew more than any other state, according to U-Haul Growth Index. The report also says, “For the fourth year in a row, California reflected the largest net loss of one-way movers.”

According to the Census Bureau, more than 9 million people moved to Texas between 2000 and 2022. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has boasted about the state’s rapid growth rate for years − and with good reason.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Times reported that in 2022, 818,000 Californians left for other states. Only about half that number moved to California, resulting in a population loss.

In a 2021 New York Times column about this phenomenon, writer Farhad Manjoo gathered data for thousands of towns and cities on important metrics like quality of schools, cost of living and crime. When users took the associated quiz by ranking their criteria for good places to live, they were given options that matched those choices.

California ranked high for many criteria, but as Manjoo noted, the high cost of living pushes out people who can’t afford to live there anymore.

That’s one reason why Texas is a magnet for recovering Californians.

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American dream is affordable in Texas

Here are a few other reasons, including one that hardly anyone mentions, why Texas continues to attract so many people from all over the country.

To start, Texas’ economy is fantastic. There’s a reason Elon Musk moved here. With a gross state product of nearly $2 trillion, Texas’ economy is the second largest in the nation.

At the end of 2023, the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the Texas economy expanded faster than the nation as a whole for the fourth quarter in a row.

And as of 2022, Texas led the nation as home to the most Fortune 500 companies.

Texans also enjoy a lower cost of living, 8% lower than the national average, according to Forbes. One reason is that housing is significantly more affordable in the Lone Star State. Texas A&M University’s Texas Real Estate Research Center reported that most of the state’s top housing markets, like Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, boast median home values below $400,000. Only Austin’s median housing cost was higher.

Contrast that with California, where Forbes reports that the median home price is nearly $800,000.

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Almost everything else costs less here, too. In California, the average gas price is approximately $5.40 a gallon. In Texas, you’ll pay closer to $3.30, slightly below the national average.

In an economy where inflation remains a problem and wages are still trying to catch up, it’s helpful to live where it feels like your money goes further.

Texans help their neighbors in need

Something else to love about Texas: the people. Texans embrace their western roots and cowboy heritage with gusto.

From my experience, as a Texan by choice, many of the people I’ve met here combine toughness and grit with neighborly concern about other folks. It can make for an appealing environment, one where you’re left to yourself unless you’re in need.

Not fully in the South and not entirely in the West, Texas is its own thing and people seem friendly, approachable and helpful. While the adage might be that folks in New York are kind but not nice and Southerners are nice but not kind, in Texas, people are both.

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Plus, the Tex-Mex and barbecue here pretty much can’t be beat. Good food and good people can make even the hottest summers bearable.

Critics slam the politics and the politicians in Texas, but there are good reasons why conservatives keep winning here. If you like smaller government, lower taxes, people taking responsibility for themselves and a generally family-friendly vibe, you’re going to find – for the most part – lawmakers who implement those ideas and values. In Texas you can carry guns, buy land and home-school with little interference from Big Brother.

That, of course, also is why a lot of people hate Texas.

Supposedly, 1 in 3 people have a negative view of Texas. A recent CNBC analysis said Texas is the worst place to live and work. OK. I hope the people moving here get the memo in time.

The way outsiders look at it is that in Texas, you can’t have abortions; government employees can’t have TikTok or embrace diversity, equity and inclusion; and, well, anyone can openly carry a gun. Sounds dangerous? Awful?

To a lot of people, Texas’ conservative values sound great. And it’s another reason why so many people love it here and are moving here faster than we can build houses for them.

In that New York Times quiz, here’s what Manjoo said about Texas in 2021: “As the Golden Gate shuts, the Lone Star beckons. If you’re looking for an affordable, economically vibrant city that is less likely to be damaged by climate change than many other American cities, our data shows why Texas is a new land of plenty. For the many hypothetical life scenarios I ran through our quiz, the suburbs around Dallas – places like Plano, McKinney, Garland, Euless and Allen – came up a lot. It’s clear why these are some of the fastest-growing areas in the country. They have relatively little crime and are teeming with jobs, housing, highly rated schools, good restaurants, clean air and racial and political diversity – all at a steep discount compared to the cost of living in America’s coastal metropolises.”

As a woman who has lived here almost six years, I couldn’t agree more. Of course, there are trade-offs in exchange for no state income tax. Our health care system could use an overhaul and, for a state that prides itself on championing families, our schools could rank higher, too. And the most complicated social issue here by far is abortion. It’s banned, but three-quarters of Texans in a 2022 survey said they believe abortion should be allowed in some form.

There’s one more reason why I love Texas – and many Texans share this value with me – although it’s hardly ever mentioned in online quizzes or economic data. Texas is a place where freedom reigns.

Residents are free to live, work, defend themselves, ride horses or raise their families pretty much any way they see fit. The things they can’t do aren’t tyrannical; they’re helpful boundaries. If anything, Texas opposes tyranny like Democrats oppose lowering taxes. It’s not in any one law or person, but it is an idea that permeates our culture, and Texas embraces it well. Turns out, a lot of other Americans do, too.

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Written by Nicole Russell for USA Today