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Report: Americans are less interested in relocating to popular destinations

A report from moveBuddha indicates Americans are showing less interest in relocating to popular destinations.

In 2022, data shows that many movers eyed states that weren’t on anyone’s radar the prior year with a continued exodus from America’s most expensive cities. Key findings from the report show that Americans are casting a wider relocation net.

For example, Ellicott City, Maryland is wildly more popular this year than in 2021. It experienced more than a 103 percent increase in relocation interest over the prior year. Other places that are less known for relocation like Honolulu, Hawaii; Anchorage, Alaska; and are seeing large gains in new residents.

Many popular cities are seeing tremendous drops in new residents. Tampa, Florida saw a nearly 70 percent drop in new residents. The city of Austin, Texas saw a nearly two-thirds drop in people relocating to the area.

The report identified these top ten states having the highest relocation in 2022:

  1. 1. Alaska
  2. 2. Maine
  3. 3. Vermont
  4. 4. Montana
  5. 5. South Carolina
  6. 6. North Carolina
  7. 7. Hawaii
  8. 8. Florida
  9. 9. Colorado
  10. 10. Tennessee

moveBuddha’s report identified several factors that may explain some factors behind the findings:

  • Americans are leaving pricey locales for more affordability, heading to destinations where average home costs are nearly 25 percent less than cities losing the most residents.
  • Employees are more successful at negotiating working remotely from a tropical island or a city where inflation and rising interest rates hurt slightly less.
  • All the states that ranked in the top ten for highest in relocation feature peaks to explore and wilderness to savor.

You can find moveBuddha’s full report here.

The study analyzes move-in and move-out ratios for a city over the course of a calendar year. This analysis takes into account searches made in 2021 (Jan 1 to Dec 31) and 2022 (Jan 1 to Dec 1). Data scientists calculate net moves per capita and year-over-year percentage changes. The data used in this report is derived from moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator.