Americans are fleeing cities with air pollution: report

Many are leaving because of worries over climate change. While others are concerned with the high cost of housing in these areas.

by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech | Feb. 13, 2024

The skyline of Los Angeles is seen on a hazy day through treetops.

The hazy skyline of Los Angeles is pictured on Sept. 6, 2022. Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

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A recent study from real estate site Redfin found that more than 1.2 million people moved away from metropolitan areas at “high risk” of poor air quality between 2021 and 2022.

That’s about twice as many people choosing to leave those cities than the year before.

Most of these cities are located in Western states like California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, where home prices are also very high.

More Americans are moving away from cities with severe air pollution than in the past, according to a report from real estate site Redfin.

The recently published Redfin study found that over 1.2 million people moved away from cities that are at “high risk” of having poor air quality between 2021 and 2022.

About 420,000 people moved out of these “high-risk” cities between 2019 and 2019, according to Redfin.

Many Americans are fleeing West Coast cities in states like California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho that have seen their air quality worsen in recent years, in part, due to smoke from wildfires.

There are 13 major metro areas where more than 85 percent of homes face high risk of poor air quality, and all of them are in the western United States, according to the study.

Two-thirds of those metro areas saw more people move out than in between 2021 and 2022.

And more Americans are moving to places with low risks of air pollution like Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, the report found.

While these cities might have better air quality, new residents are not escaping the impacts of climate change. Tampa and North Port, Florida have suffered from extreme flooding as hurricanes become worse due to climate change.

Climate change has also made Texas hotter, worsening drought conditions and sparking more wildfires in the state.

Over 1 million people moved into metro areas with low risks of poor air quality, mainly located outside the West Coast, between 2021 and 2022, according to the report.

That is almost twice as much as the year prior.

While some Americans are moving out of these high-risk areas out of concerns over air pollution, most are leaving these cities for other reasons.

Another Redfin survey found that 9 percent of recent home sellers said they decided to move over worries about climate change.

But most home sellers, 31 percent, said they wanted to move because they wanted more space, while 24 percent said they wanted to be closer to family. Another 20 percent said they chose to sell because they wanted a better deal on a home.