Escape From New York: Where People Are Moving

ByTMN Editor Reading Time: 2 minutes

The pandemic – and the adoption of remote work – is driving an increased number of relocations, with the most people leaving the biggest metropolitan areas such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

A Redfin analysis found that 29.4 percent of its users looked to move to another city or town in October and November, up from 25.4 percent the year before. Redfin said it’s the highest share of people looking to relocate since it started tracking the data in 2017.

RankMetroNet OutflowNet Outflow
Last Year		Portion of
Local Users
Searching
Elsewhere		Portion of
Local Users
Searching
Elsewhere
Last Year		Top 
Destination		Top Out-of-
State
Destination 
1New York,
NY		37,30524,40235.2%37.1%Boston, MABoston, MA
2San
Francisco, 
CA		33,52025,35624.0%23.0%Sacramento,
CA		Seattle, WA
3Los Angeles,
CA		20,82114,28318.0%16.5%San Diego,
CA		Las Vegas,
NV
4Washington,
DC		10,2285,24613.0%10.8%Salisbury,
MD		Salisbury,
MD
5Chicago, IL5,4142,97612.3%10.2%South Bend,
IN		South Bend,
IN
6Denver, CO4,4082,26427.7%23.1%Seattle, WASeattle, WA
7Seattle, WA2,495-2,90714.1%11.2%Los Angeles, 
CA		Los Angeles,
CA
8Milwaukee,
WI		2,39579642.0%38.4%Chicago, ILChicago, IL
9San Diego,
CA		2,256-2,11425.7%18.7%Los Angeles,
CA		Phoenix, AZ
10Indianapolis,
IN		1,41635439.5%30.6%Chicago, ILChicago, IL

Meanwhile, more people are moving to Sacramento, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta than last year – especially Austin.

“There has been a massive influx of buyers coming to Austin this year, mostly people who work in tech or other industries that allow them to work remotely,” said local Redfin agent Andrew Vallejo. “About 80 percent of my buyers are from the East Coast or the West Coast, specifically from the Bay Area.”

Here’s a look at where people are moving:

RankMetro*Net Inflow†Net Inflow
Last Year		Portion of
Searches
from Users
Outside the
Metro		Portion of
Searches
from Users
Outside the
Metro Last
Year		Top OriginTop Out-of-
State Origin 
1Sacramento,
CA		8,2024,98549.4%43.9%San
Francisco,
CA		Reno, NV
2Las Vegas,
NV		7,7134,58352.1%46.4%Los Angeles,
CA		Los Angeles,
CA
3Phoenix, AZ7,6675,12936.2%33.4%Los Angeles,
CA		Los Angeles,
CA
4Austin, TX7,0533,10238.4%30.9%San
Francisco,
CA		San
Francisco,
CA
5Atlanta, GA6,4424,53426.6%27.1%New York,
NY		New York,
NY
6Dallas, TX6,0632,60331.5%25.1%Los Angeles,
CA		Los Angeles,
CA
7Nashville, TN4,5122,29140.6%33.9%New York,
NY		New York,
NY
8Tampa, FL4,1052,28456.4%52.9%Orlando, FLNew York,
NY
9Miami, FL3,1931,58426.4%24.5%New York, 
NY		New York,
NY
10Cape Coral,
FL		3,1671,40775.3%74.5%Chicago, ILChicago, IL