In 2023, we will continue to learn from the past, as national statistics for 2022 continue to be released to show us what has changed from 2021 and what the trends will be this year.
Those statistics exist in the form of where people are moving in 2022. Statistics provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) allow us to see what the future of homeownership holds by region.
People fleeing California, New York and Illinois were flocking to Florida and Texas.
However, California remains the most populous state, with 39 million residents.
Twenty-six states saw population increases and 25 states (including the District of Columbia) saw population losses.
Despite the country's population continuing to grow, the number of Americans who emigrated in 2022 decreased compared to previous years.
2021 was a historically slow year for out-of-state relocation, likely due to the pandemic leading to the rapid implementation of work regulations suitable for remote work, which influenced employees to relocate to cheaper areas.
While the Census Bureau hasn't released move-in rates for 2022, U.S. Postal Service address change data shows migration trends are declining again: About 70% of ZIP codes across the U.S. saw a decline in moves in 2022 compared to 2021.
Overall picture
Below is a list of states ordered by population growth: The first number is the state's net domestic migration, and the percentage shows the change in population from 2022 to 2021.
Florida: 318,855 / 1.9%
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
Texas: 230,961 / 1.6%
North Carolina: 99,796 / 1.3%
South Carolina: 84,030 / 1.7%
Tennessee: 81,646 / 1.2%
Georgia: 81,406 / 1.2%
Arizona: 70,984 / 1.3%
Idaho: 28,639 / 1.8%
Alabama: 28,609 / 0.5%
Oklahoma: 26,791 / 0.7%
Nevada: 20,781 / 1%
Arkansas: 18,209 / 0.6%
Montana: 16,003 / 1.5%
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
Utah: 12,898 / 1.2%
Delaware: 11,826 / 1.4%
Maine: 11,600 / 0.6%
Kentucky: 10,420 / 0.1%
South Dakota: 8,424 / 1.5%
Wisconsin: 7,657 / 0.2%
New Hampshire: 6,303 / 0.6%
Colorado: 5,376 / 0.5%
Indiana: 5,230 / 0.3%
Missouri: 5,024 / 0.1%
Wyoming: 2,152 / 0.3%
Vermont: 1,141 / 0%
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
West Virginia: 474 / -0.6%
North Dakota: -2,710 / 0.2%
Washington: -3,580 / 0.6%
District of Columbia: -3,647 / 0.5%
Nebraska: -4,270 / 0.2%
New Mexico: -4,504 / -0.2%
Rhode Island: -5,196 / -0.3%
Mississippi: -5,716 / -0.3%
Alaska: -6,126 / -0.1%
Iowa: -7,292 / 0.1%
Kansas: -7,409 / 0%
Michigan: -8,482 / 0%
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
Ohio: -9,165 / -0.1%
Connecticut: -13,547 / 0.1%
Hawaii: -15,212 / -0.5%
Oregon: -17,331 / -0.4%
Minnesota: -19,400 / 0.1%
Virginia: -23,952 / 0.3%
Pennsylvania: -39,957 / -0.3%
Maryland: -45,101 / -0.2%
Louisiana: -46,672 / -0.8%
Massachusetts: -57,292 / -0.1%
New Jersey: -64,231 / -0.1%
Illinois: -141,656 / -0.8%
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
New York: -299,557 / -0.9%
California: -343,230 / -0.3%
Considering metropolitan areas
Looking at DNM by metro area, Ocala and Tallahassee, Florida, have seen inflows, as well as Charlotte, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Houston, Texas; Deltona, Florida; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Not only are many of these densely populated areas located in the Sunbelt, but they have also seen strong job market recovery post-pandemic.
Below you can see the inbound migration rates for metropolitan areas for 2022, 2021, and 2019.
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire MSA (50.1%; 50%; 58%)
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin MSA (49.5%; 50.4%; 56.7%)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California MSA (51.5%; 52.3%; 56.7%)
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ MSA (49.4%; 49.1%; 59.5%)
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California MSA (51%; 50.1%; 55%)
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA (53.4%; 54.3%; 63.3%)
The areas with the highest in-migration rates were Ocala, FL (57.1%), Tallahassee, FL (56.6%), Savannah, GA (55.8%), Houston, TX (55.7%), Deltona, FL (55.7%), Myrtle Beach, SC (55.6%), Huntsville, AL (55.4%), Miami, FL (55.2%), and McAllen, TX (55.1%). These reflect areas with more than 150,000 households.
Advertisement. Keep scrolling to read more.
Changes in inbound tourism trends
Check out the chart below, provided by NAR, reflecting changes in immigration numbers from 2019 to 2022.
So, with all this in mind, it begs the question: what is different now compared to pre-pandemic?
According to the Census Bureau, 46% of moves made in 2021 were for housing-related reasons, up 6% from the previous year. We can assume that these movers were looking for a specific, better neighborhood, a cheaper home, and/or a newer, larger home.