Map Reveals States Americans Are Looking to Move To

Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina and Tennessee are the five states where the most Americans looking to move to another city wish to relocate, according to a recent report by real estate platform Redfin.

Some 24 percent of homebuyers across the U.S. tried to move to a different metro area between December 2023 and February 2024, the report found.

Of all the major metro areas American homebuyers wished to relocate to, Sacramento, CA, was the most searched destination, followed by Phoenix (AZ), Las Vegas (NV), Sarasota (FL) and Cape Coral (FL).

Los Angeles (CA) was the one the most homebuyers were trying to leave between December 2023 and February 2024, followed by New York City (NY), San Francisco (CA), Seattle (WA) and Washington (DC).

The data show that Americans are still trying to leave massive, expensive metropolises like Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco for cheaper cities, even when these are in Florida—a state that is currently undergoing a troubling insurance crisis causing premiums to skyrocket.

In Los Angeles, the median sale price of a home was $945,000 in January, according to Redfin, up by 2.3 percent year-on-year. In New York, it was $800,000, up by 1.3 percent compared to January 2023, and in San Francisco it was $1,310,000, up by 7.6 percent year-on-year.

By contrast, the median sale price of a home in Sacramento was $463,000 in January, up by 5.2 percent from a year before. In Phoenix, it was $430,000, up 6.4 percent year-on-year, while in Las Vegas it was $415,000, up 6.4 percent.

Prices were also cheaper in Sarasota, Cape Coral and Orlando, where the median price of a home in January was, respectively, $535,000 (down by 2.7 percent year-on-year), $410,000 (up by 2.5 percent) and $369,000 (7.6 percent higher).

"Choosing a home isn't just an investment it's also about lifestyle and many people enjoy the Florida lifestyle," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather told Newsweek in a written statement. "For other migration destinations like Sacramento and Phoenix the decision is usually about cost of living. Sacramento and Phoenix cost of living is rising but they are still more affordable than San Francisco or Los Angeles."

The numbers shared by Redfin don't reflect actual moves, but they are based on a sample of about 2 million Redfin.com users who searched for homes across more than 100 metro areas. Redfin included in its results users who have viewed at least 10 homes over a three-month period.

Here's a list of the top 10 metro areas people are moving to, according to the Redfin report.

1. Sacramento, CA: 5,600 (net inflow)
2. Phoenix, AZ: 5,500
3. Las Vegas, NV: 5,400
4. Sarasota, FL: 5,000
5. Cape Coral, FL: 5,000
6. Orlando, FL: 4,400
7. Myrtle Beach, SC: 3,900
8. Salisbury, MD: 3,400
9. Jacksonville, FL: 3,100
10. Hilo, HI: 3,100

And here's a list of the top 10 metro areas people are moving from, according to the report.

1. Los Angeles, CA: 28,500 (net outflow)
2. New York, NY: 27,400
3. San Francisco, CA: 27,400
4. Seattle, WA: 18,700
5. Washington, DC: 15,300
6. Chicago, IL: 10,000
7. Boston, MA: 7,100
8. Philadelphia, PA: 3,700
9. Denver, CO: 3,200
10. Dallas, TX: 2,000

Update 03/15/24 at 7:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from Redfin Chief Economis, Daryl Fairweather.