Ownerly Study Finds Populations in Northeast and Pacific Coast Shrink While Midwest, West and South Surge

NEW YORK, May 21, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Since the pandemic, many Americans have fled from high-priced metro areas to more affordable states, largely because of the flexibility remote work has brought to everyday life. A new study from Ownerly tracks migration patterns to show exactly where people have decided to start fresh.

Key Takeaways

• Midwestern, Western and Southern states have grown the fastest over the 2021-2022 period, while states in the Northeast and Pacific Coast grew the slowest or shrank. 
• Sparsely populated states like Montana and Utah, as well as large states like Texas, are where people are moving to stay, as measured by our move-ins/population growth metric. 
• States with the highest ratios of populations staying stagnant were mostly in the Northeast Corridor, as well as California and Oregon. This indicates that many people are moving out or dying in these areas

“Although the pandemic made many people more comfortable to make a big move, there has been an ongoing trend of populations moving out of the Northeast to the West and South since the 1960s,” Kevin Gawora, Economist at Ownerly said. “We’ve seen that recently people have been inclined to stay where they are once they move in Texas and rural areas. This could be because the switch of pace and lifestyle has had a positive impact on newcomers economically and socially.”

Population changes could affect the inhabitants of these regions politically, economically, and even socially. Political tensions during an election year are notably important as candidates hope new residents don’t change the outcome in what have typically been considered red or blue states, while at the same time vying for the favor of swing states. Housing is also a critical issue as many cities face homeless rates increasing in the face of historically high rent and mortgage rates. Newcomers may exacerbate these existing issues and change the way locals feel about the evolution of their long-time hometowns. 

Methodology

Examining Census Bureau data on movement to states from other states and abroad, Ownerly compared move-in rates and overall population growth to measure the desirability of movement to a particular state.

About Ownerly

Ownerly provides homeowners, buyers and sellers with professional-grade home values used by real estate agents, banks and lenders. With Ownerly, users get important home sales insights and can track the value of their single most important investment—their home.

For more information or press inquiries, please contact Erin Kemp (erin@ownerly.com).

Source: Ownerly