(KTEN) -- Nearly half a million people make the move to Texas each year, and the biggest influx is from the state with the largest population.

The Texas Realtors Association says 86,000 Californians headed east to the Lone Star State last year, up 36 percent from previous years.

You might think a pandemic would deter people from uprooting their lives, but if anything it seems to have accelerated relocation, especially since Texas has remained open for business.

Grayson County is seeing a population bump from the Texas newcomers, many of whom are headed to booming areas beyond the suburbs of major metropolitan areas -- "exurbs," where the cost of living is lower and there are still both city and rural options available.

"I had a gentlemen sell a 1946 house in a suburb of Los Angeles -- a 1,300 square foot suburb -- for $450,000," said Richard Hunter with Ebby Halliday Realtors in Sherman. "I bought him a very recent house that was also twice the size in Denison for $235,000. "They don't have to go to Dallas every day of the week; they can go twice a week and live in Grayson County and Zoom and do your Zoom calls. Here's another thing we have here, we have Lake Texoma. And for people from California and other places, Lake Texoma is a big draw."

As big companies like Tesla make the move to Texas, more people -- and jobs -- will follow.