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.
| Rank | Metro | Net Outflow | Net Outflow Last Year | Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere | Portion of Local Users Searching Elsewhere Last Year | Top Destination | Top Out-of- State Destination |
| 1 | New York, NY | 37,305 | 24,402 | 35.2% | 37.1% | Boston, MA | Boston, MA |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | 33,520 | 25,356 | 24.0% | 23.0% | Sacramento, CA | Seattle, WA |
| 3 | Los Angeles, CA | 20,821 | 14,283 | 18.0% | 16.5% | San Diego, CA | Las Vegas, NV |
| 4 | Washington, DC | 10,228 | 5,246 | 13.0% | 10.8% | Salisbury, MD | Salisbury, MD |
| 5 | Chicago, IL | 5,414 | 2,976 | 12.3% | 10.2% | South Bend, IN | South Bend, IN |
| 6 | Denver, CO | 4,408 | 2,264 | 27.7% | 23.1% | Seattle, WA | Seattle, WA |
| 7 | Seattle, WA | 2,495 | -2,907 | 14.1% | 11.2% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 8 | Milwaukee, WI | 2,395 | 796 | 42.0% | 38.4% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, IL |
| 9 | San Diego, CA | 2,256 | -2,114 | 25.7% | 18.7% | Los Angeles, CA | Phoenix, AZ |
| 10 | Indianapolis, IN | 1,416 | 354 | 39.5% | 30.6% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, 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:
| Rank | Metro* | 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 Origin | Top Out-of- State Origin |
| 1 | Sacramento, CA | 8,202 | 4,985 | 49.4% | 43.9% | San Francisco, CA | Reno, NV |
| 2 | Las Vegas, NV | 7,713 | 4,583 | 52.1% | 46.4% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 3 | Phoenix, AZ | 7,667 | 5,129 | 36.2% | 33.4% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 4 | Austin, TX | 7,053 | 3,102 | 38.4% | 30.9% | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| 5 | Atlanta, GA | 6,442 | 4,534 | 26.6% | 27.1% | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| 6 | Dallas, TX | 6,063 | 2,603 | 31.5% | 25.1% | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 7 | Nashville, TN | 4,512 | 2,291 | 40.6% | 33.9% | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| 8 | Tampa, FL | 4,105 | 2,284 | 56.4% | 52.9% | Orlando, FL | New York, NY |
| 9 | Miami, FL | 3,193 | 1,584 | 26.4% | 24.5% | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| 10 | Cape Coral, FL | 3,167 | 1,407 | 75.3% | 74.5% | Chicago, IL | Chicago, IL |