Americans are leaving the country in record numbers, and they’re also moving from their home states – but where are they going?

If you’re curious, this handy map gives you an idea of which states are most likely to lose taxpayers, and which states are more likely to gain them.

Off the top, though, the report shows that fewer people have the means or the desire to make large moves across the country than they did twenty years ago – or even across state lines.

For years, the answer to “where are people moving” has been Florida and Texas. They have been the fastest growing populations for years, and their economies and job markets are the better for it.

The recent State of the Nation’s Housing Report, though, found that since 2024, moving has declined across the entire country. In fact, we’re seeing the lowest rate of household mobility since the 1970s. In 2023 and 2024, 8.3% of US households reported moving. In 2019, that percentage was 9.8%.

Some of this is due to the pandemic allowing people to work from home, which also allowed them to move from cities into more affordable towns they would now be reluctant to leave. The rate of domestic migration to Florida increased between 2019 and 2021, peaking in 2022. Since then, it has fallen steadily.

Texas saw the same trend, and states who were losing residents from 2019-2021 are now largely retaining them. The number of people leaving California, for example, dropped by 30% in 2024. The same statistic is true for New York, and other states to some degree.

Increasing home prices and rising interest rates since 2019 have also trapped people in their current situations. The average home price has risen nearly $200k across the country, and mortgage rates are higher than they have been in decades.

These facts make packing and moving not only unappealing, but impossible for many.

You can conclude what you would like from these facts, but the bottom line is that a combination of factors – beginning with the pandemic – have contributed to people being less willing to migrate within the United States.

Staying put sometimes isn’t a choice, but a necessity.

If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.