Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns

From the mid-2000s through the late 2010s, San Francisco was a magnet for young graduates driven largely by Web 2.0 and the mobile tech boom. It was a cool city that boasted high-paying jobs and promised a breezy West Coast lifestyle.

But in the past several years, younger workers have been ditching San Francisco for cheaper cities and better work-life balance. It started with a pandemic exodus, as workers moved to be closer to their families or to pursue a different lifestyle; then they steadily drifted toward Texas and Florida...