Glen Powell recently moved back to Austin after 15 years in LA. White, single millennials like Powell are the most common movers to Austin.
Nicola Gell / GA / The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images / Rick Kern / Getty Images
Glen Powell said he left LA for Austin after Matthew McConaughey advised him to go somewhere "real" to "unplug."
At the age of 19, Powell dropped out of the University of Texas in his hometown, Austin, and moved to LA to become an actor. Now 35, Powell said he has moved back to Austin to escape Hollywood.
In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have left California in search of states with lower taxes and cost of living, among other reasons. That includes celebrities.
Powell told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday that he wanted to leave LA after Matthew McConaughey helped him realize that the city is "fake."
"He's like, 'Hollywood is the Matrix, man. You plug in and it's all fake world,'" Powell said, recalling McConaughey's advice. "He's like, 'Then I go to Austin, and I unplug. It's all real. Those are my friends, that's my family, my actions matter there.' And he's right."
Nicola Gell / GA / Getty Images
The Hollywood Reporter said Powell sold his home in the Hollywood Hills but still has a place in Tribeca, New York. His main home will be Austin, where he bought a house 30 minutes from his parents.
Austin has become an attractive relocation destination for Californians due to its lower cost of living and slower pace of life. Elon Musk owns a home in the city, and according to a report by Henley & Partners, it is a growing hot spot for millionaires.
Powell said that now his career is going well, he has "earned the ability to go back to my family."
"If you're here, you live in the Matrix all the time, there's no separation of those worlds," Powell said of living in LA. "And for me, especially as my parents get older and my niece and nephew are growing up, I want a separation of those worlds."
White, single millennials like Powell, are the most common movers to Austin, according to census data, apparently attracted by the city's growing tech job market. Families are meanwhile tempted by safe neighborhoods and outdoor activities.
However, the new influx of Americans is affecting the cities' housing market, with property and rental prices rising above the national average. According to data provided to Business Insider by Redfin, home prices have risen about 32% since 2020.
The city has tried to fix this by building new housing, bringing home prices down by 8.4% and rent by 7% in the last year, but it is still expensive.
Some former and current residents have also complained about increased traffic congestion and said the city's infrastructure cannot keep up with the influx.
Flora Batts, a former Austin resident who moved to Pennsylvania, told Business Insider earlier this month: "The problem is that Austin is progressing faster than it can accommodate its population. We've been pushing the envelope for over 20 years now, operating at maximum occupancy off and on."
