migration destinations

More than 100k millennials moved to San Antonio last year, report says

More than 102,000 millennials flocked to San Antonio in 2022.

Photo by Lesia on Unsplash

A new report has revealed that San Antonio is blossoming into a haven for millennials.

SmartAsset's 2023 study "Where Millennials Are Moving" dug into data from the U.S. Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey to determine the number of millennials who moved to 268 U.S. cities in 2022. Rankings were determined by the percentage of the total population represented by millennials who moved into the city in 2022.

According to the findings, 102,848 millennials moved to San Antonio last year; That means 7.08 percent of its population was newcomers who are millennials. Millennials make up 30.55 percent of the overall population in the city.

There are two Central Texas city that experienced a more dramatic population shift thanks to new millennials: Austin (No. 9) and Killeen (No. 8), which is located about 70 miles north of the Texas capital.

103,461 millennials moved to Austin in 2022, the report says, making up 10.71 percent of the city's population. The median age of an Austinite is 34.7, the report found.

Killeen drew in 16,853 millennials, making up 10.8 percent of its population that moved in 2022. The median age in Killeen is 30.4 — the second-lowest in the top 10, the report says.

So, how did Killeen manage to attract so many millennials? According to a separate SmartAsset study, the answer lies in the obvious: cheaper housing with low competition. Killeen is the best housing market in the nation for first-time homebuyers.

According to SmartAsset, one in four millennials moved to a different city last year. Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the No. 1 U.S. city with the highest proportional influx of millennial newcomers in 2022, at 14.74 percent.

The report also noted the different ways a generation's migration can impact a city.

"Whether they come from within the same county, state, out-of-state or abroad, these migrations can impact local small businesses, housing markets and social dynamics," the report's author wrote.

The top 10 cities where millennials are moving are:

No. 1 – Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. 2 – Santa Clara, California
No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
No. 4 – Sunnyvale, California
No. 5 – Denver, Colorado
No. 6 – Arlington, Virginia
No. 7 – Bellevue, Washington
No. 8 – Killeen, Texas
No. 9 – Austin, Texas
No. 10 – Sandy Springs, Georgia

The full report can be found on smartasset.com.

smartasset reports population growth san antonio

Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

transportation