Population continues to shift to the Sun Belt

Through mid-2021, domestic relocation trends generally continued from the denser coastal cities, especially in the Northeast and California, to the Sun Belt cities from Florida to Texas to Arizona.

Using the nation's 384 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) as the measure, the net migration change across the United States from April 2020 through June 2021 was just under 1.23 million residents from one MSA to another.^Footnote1

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines an MSA as having at least one urbanized area with a minimum population of 50,000, and includes its surrounding communities that are linked by social and economic factors.^Footnote2 MSAs are high-density areas that include slightly more than 86% of the country's total population.

Recent migration to the Sun Belt was partially due to the excessive living costs of cities like New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. It also resulted from the newfound freedom of virtual work, especially for tech workers, that increased markedly during the pandemic. This extended the tech industry's ongoing relocation to the business-friendly Sun Belt, where cities are more affordable, modern and culturally burgeoning.

This movement continues the decades-long migration of a younger, tech-savvy workforce, as well as retirees, to more hospitable Sun Belt cities and their suburbs. For real estate professionals, this can translate into a steady stream of business, whether clients are selling in the North or buying in the South.