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Americans are moving out of major cities and opting for southeastern states, data show

Places like Sarasota, Tampa Bay and Nashville are receiving an influx of newcomers. 
New homes on a quiet street in Raleigh North Carolina. zimmytws/ iStock

Story at a glance

  • Moving and storage company Pods recently released data on where their customers were moving to and fleeing from. 

  • According to their data, the bulk of their customers are leaving large cities like Los Angeles and Chicago and moving to smaller cities in southeastern states. 

  • Out of the 10 most moved to cities, four are in Florida. 

Since the start of the pandemic, where Americans are choosing to live has been in flux. And two and half years in, people are still opting to relocate, although at lower levels than prior to the pandemic, in some cases to escape expensive housing markets or to accommodate remote work.  

According to data from moving and storage company PODS, Americans are moving from big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. to southeastern states like Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia where home prices have historically been lower and where nature is more easily accessible.  

The top-ranking city for move ins was Sarasota, FL, according to the company, which is in keeping with their trends from last year. In 2021, PODS reported six Florida cities made it on the company’s list of top 20 cities moved to.  


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Here is a list of the top 10 areas moved to and from in 2021 and early 2022 according to Pods.  

Top 10 move in areas:  

  1. Sarasota, FL 
  1. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 
  1. Nashville, TN 
  1. Tampa Bay, FL 
  1. Ocala, FL 
  1. Myrtle Beach, SC/Wilmington, NC 
  1. Knoxville, TN 
  1. Atlanta, GA 
  1. Orlando, FL 
  1. Phoenix, AZ 

Top 10 move out areas:  

  1. Los Angeles, CA 
  1. San Francisco area, CA 
  1. Chicago, IL 
  1. Long Island, NY 
  1. Central New Jersey 
  1. Seattle, WA 
  1. Washington, D.C. 
  1. Stockton-Modesto, CA 
  1. Hudson Valley, NY 
  1. Philadelphia, PA 

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