Five residents of a Texas town where half the homeowners are millennials break down the good and bad: The growth explosion helped the economy, but put stress on housing and schools

Employees at The Tailgate, an entertainment venue in Midland, Texas.Alcynna Lloyd/ Insider

• Midland's booming oil and energy sector has brought thousands of millennials to the West Texas city.
• Insider spoke with five residents to understand how their presence has transformed Midland.

From Baltimore to Florida, young people across the country have grown disenchanted with homeownership.

A cocktail of higher home prices and mortgage rates, as well as surging consumer debt, have led many to believe it's out of reach.

But some young people have found refuge in Midland, a West Texas city in the Permian Basin that has become a mecca for young people hoping to get a slice of the American dream.

Midland, a nearly five-hour drive west of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, is one of the few places in the US where millennials are dominating the real-estate market. According to researchers at the National Association of Realtors, more than half of the city's homeowners are between the ages of 22 and 40, as of 2021.

With a bit of skepticism, I visited the desert city of 176,914 residents this summer to investigate how this was even possible. I met with almost a dozen people, including local politicians, business owners, lifelong residents, and new homeowners.

I learned that Midland's thriving oil and energy industry and its high-paying jobs are behind the city's millennial homeownership success. I also discovered that the surge in millennial homebuyers has led to unintended consequences for the city, ranging from a housing shortage to the dire need for larger schools.

In their own words, here are five Midland residents on how millennials have brought about both positive and negative changes to the city.