During the pandemic and its aftermath, there was a significant shift in America’s residential renters as they moved from crowded cities to more affordable and less densely populated areas. However, recent data shows that this trend is starting to change. According to the 2024 Apartment List Renter Migration Report, fewer renters are now seeking long-distance moves.
The report collected information from registered users between January 1 and December 31, 2023. The data revealed that cross-state and cross-metro moves have declined compared to previous years.
In fact, only about 38% of Apartment List users were looking for a new metro area in 2023 compared to over 40% in the previous year. Similarly, only about a quarter of users were interested in crossing state borders compared to almost one-third the year before.
This slowdown in migration can also be seen through estimates released by the U.S Census Bureau which showed decreased domestic migration rates for states with declining populations while states with growing populations saw less growth than expected.
Interestingly enough though, despite this decline overall there has been an increase of population moving towards Sunbelt and Mountain West regions while West Coast and Northeastern states have experienced population loss during this time period.
Accordingly California & New York had some of largest outflows both numerically & proportionally whereas Florida & Texas saw increases due largely because these two southernmost continental US States attracted most people who left those other two aforementioned large coastal markets; South Carolina North Carolina Tennessee also ranked high among percentage gainers thanks partly due their own inbound migrations too according Census Data analyzed by Apartment List analysts who found Durham NC Charleston SC Lakeland FL top three destinations respectively when it comes inbound searches coming different areas; Raleigh Charlotte NYC topped list sources outbound interest meanwhile another trend highlighted on lists points out how many renters being priced-out expensive markets look elsewhere cheaper options such San Francisco Stockton CA or New York City Bridgeport CT instead
