Even before 2020, Americans searched for a more affordable and attainable American Dream. Yet since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been quite busy re-sorting themselves across the country. Especially as certain urban regions have become increasingly notorious for their astronomically high housing costs, people have relocated in the hopes of scoring cheaper homes and more effortless living.
Here are some states Americans have been leaving behind. Some states on this list will come as no surprise, but others might.
1. California
Of course, the Golden State tops this list. Even though California’s net population decline has slowed since the darkest days of the pandemic, the nation’s largest state continues to bleed residents due to extremely high housing costs in the San Francisco-San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego metro regions.
The state government has recently embarked on new programs to expand affordable housing availability, but it may take some time before we notice any change.
2. New York
New York’s position near the top of this list is anything but shocking. The New York City region may have an even worse affordable housing crisis than California’s biggest cities, and the growth of remote work opportunities has encouraged tech and finance workers to leave New York (and California) and relocate to cheaper states where their salaries stretch much further.
3. Illinois
In a sense, Illinois suffers the worst of both worlds. In Chicagoland, way-too-high housing costs have driven people out searching for more affordable living. Yet in downstate rural areas, the lack of economic opportunities is driving people out in search of more and better-paying jobs. How the Land of Lincoln will solve this dual conundrum remains to be seen.
4. Maryland
Another coastal state is another case of net negative migration. We’re trying not to be too repetitive, but the Old Line State is another state struggling with costly housing prices. Even with its abundance of high-paying government and corporate white-collar jobs, not even this is enough to keep up with rising costs of living, especially in Maryland’s notoriously expensive D.C. suburban counties.
5. New Jersey
Yes, another one: the Garden State is another coastal state whose wildly expensive housing costs are driving people out. Like New York and California, the recent growth in remote work has encouraged people to leave New Jersey and head to states with cheaper homes without giving up their higher-paying jobs.
6. Massachusetts
Here we go again. Despite the Bay State’s strong economy and robust economic growth, Massachusetts is also experiencing net negative migration due to exorbitant housing costs. Since Boston isn’t that far from the Rhode Island and New Hampshire state lines, some workers find it more feasible to cross state lines to afford the homes they want.
7. Louisiana
Unlike most states on this list, the Pelican State suffers a different economic problem, causing constant out-migration. In Louisiana’s case, chronic poverty and the lack of sufficient new job opportunities have pushed people out in hopes of finding a better life elsewhere. To make matters worse, frequent natural disasters (especially hurricanes) and a far higher-than-average death rate since the early days of the pandemic have taken their toll.
8. West Virginia
On the one hand, the recent growth in remote work has provided a blazing new opportunity for the Mountain State to reinvent itself as an affordable alternative to the far more expensive Eastern Seaboard states. Conversely, the lack of higher-paying job opportunities continues to hold back West Virginia’s ability to reverse its long-time population decline.
9. Oregon
For years, Oregon benefited from people relocating from high-cost California and Washington. But as Portland’s housing costs quickly catch up with those in Seattle and San Francisco, and as the overall birth rate declines while the average age rises, you can see more clearly how and why the Beaver State landed on this list.
10. Hawaii
On paper, the Aloha State shouldn’t be on this list. Hawaii has a great climate, beautiful natural scenery, and a rebounding tourism industry. However, Hawaii is actually losing population because housing prices are way too high for most people to afford. When people cite housing costs as a reason to move to California, you know housing costs in Hawaii are highly exorbitant!
11. Indiana
The Hoosier State is another state that shouldn’t be here: Indiana has an abundance of cheap housing, and the Indianapolis metro region keeps growing. Yet, due to economic stagnation in most of the rest of the state, Indiana also has an out-migration problem. Even when factoring in Indiana’s lower cost of living, low wages keep driving people out searching for better-paying jobs elsewhere.
12. Michigan
The Wolverine State is another “Rust Belt” state where 20th-century deindustrialization has caused a brutal economic hangover that still hangs over much of Michigan today. Though the overall population has grown again thanks to a lower death rate and a new influx of immigrants, we’ll have to wait and see whether Michigan can keep up this positive momentum.
13. Pennsylvania
Despite the recent success of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in bringing in new job opportunities and curbing population loss, the Keystone State continues to experience net out-migration. This is due to most of the rest of the state’s ongoing struggle to rebuild its economic foundation following the loss of heavy industry in the late 20th century.
14. Ohio
The Buckeye State is lower on this list thanks to ongoing economic and population growth in the Columbus and Cincinnati metro regions. Due to continuing post-industrial stagnation in the Cleveland area and throughout the rest of the state, Ohio is still losing residents as they seek better economic opportunities elsewhere.
15. Iowa
Like Ohio, the Hawkeye State is buoyed by strong growth in the Des Moines metro region. Yet further outside the state capital, post-industrial economic stagnation in other cities and the ongoing agricultural shifts in rural areas have led to net out-migration. Whether Des Moines’ success can outweigh lingering rural declines remains to be seen.