The year the Covid-19 pandemic forced many Americans to stay home, more than seven million households moved to a different county—nearly half a million more households than in 2019.
Spurred by the promise of flexible, remote work, many left large metropolitan areas and migrated toward less-dense, more-affordable places that offered more space.
Dots represent households that filed permanent change-of-address forms with the U.S. Postal Service in 2020 to move to a different county.
New York
● Households moving out of a county
● Households moving into a county
New York County, which covers Manhattan, lost big numbers to nearby suburbs—especially New Jersey, where several suburbs had housing booms—and also to Florida. That state took in New Yorkers looking for lower taxes and an easier lifestyle, as well as some pushed to retire by the pandemic. Fewer people arrived in Manhattan to replace those leaving: One new household moved in for every three that left. The previous year, two moved in for every three that left.
Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia
Washington and Philadelphia County also lost residents—the net loss from the nation’s capital nearly doubled from the previous year. A big portion went to nearby suburbs. Nationwide, some employers also moved to suburbs, and developers built amenities, potentially adding sticking power to the suburban shift.
Chicago and Minneapolis
The same happened in the core counties of large Midwestern cities such as Cook County, Ill. (Chicago) and Hennepin County, Minn. (Minneapolis). In addition to nearby suburbs, many households went to warmer areas in the South and Southwest, including Florida, Texas and Arizona. Overall, the South saw the biggest gains in newcomers by far last year.
San Francisco and Los Angeles
The net loss of households from San Francisco County doubled last year, and from Los Angeles County rose 58%, adding to the broader exodus from California that has taken place in recent years amid high costs and high taxes. They moved through the West, especially to mountain states and the Pacific Northwest. Many from Los Angeles made a beeline to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Seattle and Portland
At the same time, the loss of households from King County (Seattle), which suffered the early impact of Covid-19, rocketed from 1,000 to 19,000 in a year. Multnomah County (Portland), more than doubled the net loss of households.
Residents in recent years have been leaving big cities and moving to suburbs or smaller metro areas. The pandemic supercharged that phenomenon.
Millennial and young Gen X households have been building families and buying homes. Millennials accounted for more than half of all new home loans in 2019, the most-recent data available, according to Realtor.com. In 2020, the moves accelerated when many began working from home with no need to commute. At the same time, mortgage interest rates hit historic lows.
Source: U.S. Postal Service (changes of address); National Center for Health Statistics (county classification)
Suburban areas such as Suffolk County, N.Y., on Long Island, saw an inflow of big-city dwellers last year. Households arriving there from large metropolitan areas increased by 70%. Of all the change-of-address forms, 46% indicated they were coming from four New York City counties—those covering Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The previous year, a third of all newcomers came from those counties.
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
New York County,
N.Y. (Manhattan)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
New York County,
N.Y. (Manhattan)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
New York County,
N.Y. (Manhattan)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
Net gain of households in 2020 →
← Net loss of households
New York County,
N.Y. (Manhattan)
*Insufficient data or counties
with a net change of zero
Source: U.S. Postal Service
Nationwide, relocations to midsize and small metro areas from big cities rose 23%.
In Sonoma County, Calif., arrivals from San Francisco County doubled in 2020, and households indicating they were coming from large metropolitan areas made up 52% of all arrivals, 9 percentage points more than in 2019.
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
San Francisco
County, Calif.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
San Francisco
County, Calif.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
San Francisco
County, Calif.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
Net gain of households in 2020 →
← Net loss of households
San Francisco
County, Calif.
*Insufficient data or counties
with a net change of zero
Source: U.S. Postal Service
A handful of large urban areas, feeding off migration from still larger areas, continued to see the net gains they have been experiencing in recent years. Among them: Riverside County, Calif. (outside Los Angeles); Clark County, Nev. (Las Vegas); Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix); and Wake County, N.C. (Raleigh).
A few other metropolitan areas saw gains for the first time, including Hartford County, Conn. There, households arriving from other big cities were 16% of all newcomers, up from 12% from the prior year.
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
Suffolk
County, Mass.
(Boston)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
Suffolk
County, Mass.
(Boston)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
← Net loss of households in 2020
Net gain of households →
Suffolk
County, Mass.
(Boston)
Source: U.S. Postal Service
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
Net gain of households in 2020 →
← Net loss of households
Suffolk
County, Mass.
(Boston)
*Insufficient data or counties
with a net change of zero
Source: U.S. Postal Service
Find how many households moved in or out of your county
*Insufficient data or counties with a net change of zero
—Jessica Kuronen, Andrew Levinson and Paul Overberg contributed to this article.
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