Migration Trends

With rapidly changing buyer preferences and abilities, there has been a lot of migration within the United States over the past few years. As seen in the chart to the right, southern states such as Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas have been big winners in these domestic migration patterns, largely led by more affordable conditions and opportunities. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 42% of these moves were driven by housing reasons, 26% for family reasons, 16% for employment reasons, and only one percent moved due to climate-related reasons.

The available Census Bureau data provides information surrounding where Americans move and in what volumes, but there is less available data surrounding why Americans move to a specific area and what drives those decisions. With this in mind, the National Association of REALTORS® Research Committee decided to conduct a survey of its members to analyze the drivers and motivators of their clients moving to different areas within the country. Throughout the report, the data is also broken down by movers to each of the four regions of the U.S. (Midwest, Northeast, South, and West) to identify any differences in drivers to different regions; regional definitions can be found in the Methodology section of the report.

Key Findings

Millions of Americans move and migrate throughout the nation, and this has been exacerbated by the surge of remote work and current affordability issues in the market. With varying priorities of America's home buyers, let's take a look at what drives individuals to move to specific areas and how that compares regionally:

General Move Characteristics

• 46% of respondents' clients had moved to the South this year, while 25% moved to the West, 18% moved to the Midwest, and 11% moved to the Northeast.
• REALTORS®' recent clients generally moved to a similar type of area (i.e. from one suburban area to another). However, those moving from central city/urban areas (41%) and resort areas (44%) most often moved to a suburban area.

Distance & Time

• In 2024, REALTORS® reported that 36% of their clients moved to a different state. However, the majority of REALTORS®' clients moved intrastate: 21% moved within the same city, 21% moved to a different city in the same area, and 21% moved to a different area within their state.
• Among repeat buyers, 74% sold their previous residence when making their recent purchase, while 20% kept their previous residence as an investment, rental, or vacation property.

Area Decision Characteristics

• 94% of REALTORS®' recent clients made a permanent move to a new area or location, while six percent are splitting their time between their new and previous locations.
• Nearly one in five of REALTORS®' recent clients (18%) moved back to an area in which they previously lived.
  • This is more common among movers to the Midwest (24%) and the West (20%).

• Overall, REALTORS®' recent clients chose to move to a specific area primarily to be closer to family and friends (30%) and to get more home for the money (21%).
• Secondary reasons include the area having lower or more favorable taxes (16%), it being a safer area with less crime (16%), and being closer to their work location (15%).
  • Movers to the West were driven more than others by getting more house for the money (24%), while movers to the South were more driven than others by lower or more favorable tax rates (19%), and movers to the Northeast were more motivated than others to move closer to their job location (22%).
• When asked to provide the one primary reason for choosing to move to a specific area, the most common driver was to be closer to family and friends at 23%, followed by getting more house for the money (12%), and being closer to work (9%).

Specific Home Characteristics

• REALTORS®' recent clients are most likely to have chosen a specific home based on its outdoor space (42%), its additional square footage (31%), and because it’s in a quieter area (24%).
  • Outdoor space was especially important to movers to the Midwest, while movers to the Northeast were particularly driven by needing more square footage and for a better work commute.

• Job location did not play a role in the purchase decision for 43% of REALTORS®' recent clients, as they continue to work remotely, while job location did influence 37% of movers who work at least some of their time in-office.
  • Movers to the West and South were most likely to report that job location did not play a role as they are working remotely.
• Only 2% of REALTORS®' recent clients made their move due to a return-to-office in their jobs. This was slightly more common among movers to the Midwest at 4%.