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Thousands of Americans decided to change residence during the first year of the pandemic and leave seven large metropolitan areas where prices for housing went through the roof.
The mobilization was also driven by the working conditions and agreements that were given to work at home between the middle of 2020 and mid 2021.
New data published by the United States Census Bureau confirmed migration from large metropolitan areas, with high costs of living and high density, towards smaller cities with more affordable housing.
According to published data, these migration trends favored population increases in cities of the well-known ‘belt of the sun’ in the south of the USA ., as well as in western cities.
The 7 big cities that Americans are leaving
New York is the city that lost the most people during the first year of the pandemic , according to data from the Census Bureau, taken up in an abc News report.
The big city on the east coast lost around 328,000 inhabitants in the indicated period, a figure that contrasts with the arrival in this city of people from other countries since births exceeded deaths.
The other metropolitan areas that also lost a large number of inhabitants are:
The Angels: 328,000 population
San Francisco: 116,000 population
Chicago: 91,000 population
Although with a smaller amount, but also with a number of significant moves, San José, Miami and Washington , complete the list of the seven big cities that Americans are leaving.
Where are they moving to
Census data shows that people who decided to move from large metropolitan areas of the country opted for smaller cities located in the so-called ‘sun belt’.
Dallas had a growth of more than 97,000 persons, between half of 2020 and half of 2021.
Phoenix grew up with more than 80,000 new residents, while Houston added 69,000 new people, combined with a higher number of births.
A phenomenon that the Census Bureau report highlights is that the so-called micro-areas, areas with a central city of less than ,000 population, they also had an increase in the number of residents.
In these cities, trends towards population loss were reversed, mainly in Kalispell, Montana, Jefferson, Georgia, and Bozeman, M ontana.
The great exoduses will not be a trend
The conditions that allowed thousands of people to move from the city during the pandemic were very particular, but, in opinion of an expert, the great exoduses will not be a trend.
William Frey, a demographer consulted by abc News in this regard, highlighted that the conditions of remote work allowed workers to look at options to migrate from cities with high costs of living.
However , considers that these movements will not be a trend that we will continue to see as people have to return to offices and remote work options are reduced.
However, recent studies also show that high housing costs and price hikes associated with inflation tion, are also driving hundreds of people to leave the most expensive cities and look for more affordable options to settle down.
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