Why are so many Americans moving to Texas, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas?

47 comments

  1. Low income tax, perceived economic opportunity, relatively low cost of living compared to other coastal areas. 

  3. Currently it’s cheaper to live in those places, although with the influx of people it’s getting more and more expensive.

  4. Better weather, more agreeable politics, better job market, or existing job move usually.

  5. The cost of living.

    My property taxes are close to $25K in my middle class Long Island town. A comparable home to mine in Charlotte,NC might very well be $4K.

  7. It’s the current crop of “boom” states which is always switching around.

    It used to be California and at one point even all of those rust belt states were the top growth states at one point. At some time, these Southern states are going to get replaced by other states for the place w the next boom in population and economic growth. I’m predicting that the states around the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest will take that position.

  8. Midwestern transplant to NC: banking needs warm bodies and so does medical research/engineering. The beach is lovely for retirees or near retirees and the mountains are pretty cool.

  10. Lots of people moving to Florida isn’t a new trend. It’s something that’s been happening over time. Just an example, but Alabama had a higher population than Florida did in the 1950s. Florida had a population under 3 million people and Alabama was closer to 3 million people. In the time since then Alabama added roughly 2 million people while Florida added about 19 million people. That’s not really even that long ago.

  11. Charlotte is an important city in banking plus it’s cheaper than some places up north or California

  12. Misconception that our lack of state income tax and “low” cost of living will translate to savings. In reality, our property taxes are so high you offset any savings. Plus you’ll melt in the summer and risk freezing to death in the winter when the power grid goes tits up. And that lack of state income tax and constantly reduced public funding reduces the quality and availability of services, parks, libraries, etc.

  13. It’s verrrrry simple. They don’t like the economic situations of their current states (normally more taxes and more job competition in places like New York, Mass, or California), so they move to places that have lower taxes etc. Then they elect people whose entire campaign is to make their new state just like the one they left. Perfect logic, I know.

  15. I moved here for a job. It’s the only reason I’ve ever moved, outside of moving for school once.

  17. I know a lot that move because their children are going to university here.

  18. Low to no state income tax, warmer weather, lower cost of living compared to the west coast and northeast. larger homes with more space for cheaper.

    Ex moving from the Bay Area to Dallas a person saves like 13% on state income tax and can go from like 1500sqft home prices at $1.3M to 3000sqft for $500k-900k. with $200 flights back to the bay whenever they want.

  19. Conservatives want to live with Conservatives, people forget that California has a large conservative population when compared to other states

  20. I moved to Florida a couple years ago. As much as I’ve always wanted to live by the beach, what pushed me over the edge was seeing the chaos brought to my hometown of Denver by the government’s COVID response, subsequent social unrest (related to that and other events).

    I also got sick of the traffic in a big city, the fact that Denver is at the top of the list in property crime (got gym lockers broken into and significant things stolen multiple times).

    I did also get a little disillusioned living in such a “progressive” city. (Now, I’m sick of being around so many Trumpers. Grass is always greener)

    Anyway, we moved to a city of about 125,000 right on the beach. Not as much to do here event-wise, but I love the peaceful beach lifestyle. We see more wildlife and feel closer to nature here than Denver too, believe it or not (cool jungle / swamp ecosystems too)

    All in all- it’s been a chill experience.

    Florida definitely isn’t “more free” than other places, but to me, the part of Florida I’m in is- cheaper, and more peaceful, and I’m all for that.

  21. I moved from Pennsylvania to north Carolina for multiple reasons. It was cheaper, taxes, car insurance, rent, etc. 

    It also was great for me and my wife because there were many jobs, but few qualified employees. So we could pick and choose what we wanted.

    Ended up moving to Arizona. NC was nice but had a bit of an issue with racism (I’m white wife is Asian) and we didn’t want to raise our children in that. 

  22. Something I haven’t seen yet is jobs. A lot of companies move to those states because their operations are cheaper, they get tax breaks from state governments and they don’t have to worry about unionization. I live in Nashville and most folks from elsewhere that moved here moved here for a specific job. Unless folks are retiring or moving for family reasons it’s quite rare to just move without a job offer.

    I do think this pattern is going to change. For many decades those were the cheapest states but they aren’t anymore. The large metros in those states (except for Texas) are now as expensive if nor more so than their equivalents in Midwestern states and even Northeastern states. It’s still cheaper than the big cities on the West Coast or the NYC, DC and Boston areas, but living in the Philadelphia or Baltimore area or upstate NY or Western MA now costs the same as living in the Nashville area or Research Triangle or much of Florida because housing values down here have gone through the roof.

    But folks in the North and West have had in their heads that its cheaper here for decades now and it will take awhile for that to change…

  26. I don’t want to spend more winter seasons in PA than I need to. As soon as I can I’m moving somewhere warmer.

  28. People move to where there are jobs, and the economy is very strong in the major cities of these states.

    People say cost of living is the reason, but there are also people moving here from some northern states with a low cost of living, to major southern cities where it is actually more expensive to live. The thing is as those states might cheaper homes, they tend to have lower salaries and less job opportunities.

  29. People get it into their heads that taxes are bad, meanwhile taxes pay for essential public services, schools, police, fire departments, libraries, etc.

    Just because you get to keep more of your money doesn’t mean you are better off.

  30. I’m literally right now moving from California to Florida. 

    For me, it’s all about cost of living. California is just so expensive now that unless you have family or something anchoring you here or just have enough money not to care, it’s just not worth it anymore. 

    The rent on my new apartment in Florida is less than half of what a similar unit would be here in Orange County and even with a pay cut is way more reasonable than staying here. And it’s about 50% larger and much newer. 

  31. As an original Georgian, my answer is all the factories being built EVERYWHERE. They started building them next to my school last year and now I have to deal with ex-con factory workers (the only job they can get probably) driving angrily, recklessly, and (I’d imagine) drunkedly when I’m on the way to school. My buddy was headed here this morning and one of these workers passed him (on a no passing zone) and punched his mirror out.

  33. Escaping blue states and their politics. That’s the reason I want to move further South.

  34. Frankly, we are moving because we simply can’t fucking afford to live here anymore. I can get a house in that area for 1/3 of what they’re going for here 🤷‍♂️

  35. While the actual tax burden is higher in Texas for most income brackets, people perceive the tax to be lower here. In my Metro area, the economy is running hot (doing good) so there’s generally many good, well paying jobs here for certain industries. In Dallas Fort Worth we have one of the largest metro areas with access to two major airports for travelers, and if you don’t mind living 45 minutes (or more) of a drive from the city center, you can “afford” a house. The quality of life is decent, but the political climate has been degrading for some time. I don’t think most people who are moving to my area are doing so for political reasons, it’s mainly just because their jobs are relocating here. We have a lot of companies that have re-located.

  36. Multiple things

    Cheaper cost of living

    high housing stock

    low taxes

    good weather for most of the year.

  38. More people WFH now and are leaving cities in favor low COL areas. It’s pretty common basically everywhere in the country not just the areas you mentioned. VT, NH, ME have seen a huge population influx recently for example.

    The biggest difference in the places you’re referring to is the weather. Wealthy boomer from the northeast are hitting retirement age. Snowbirding isn’t new for places like FL, but rarely has a single generation held such a disproportionate amount of the wealth so more of them are able to do this than ever before.

  39. The Carolinas I kinda understand but people moving to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and anywhere in Texas and Florida is beyond reason to me. And they *love* to talk about “Commiefornia” and how its a dystopian hellhole, despite the state having lower violent crime. The vast majority of people moving out of big California cities are moving to slightly smaller California cities. I know way more people that moved to California than people moving out of state.

  42. Cheap food and gas plus cheaper houses and land

    Oh and the pay is better especially when accounting for cost of living

  45. 1. Cheaper cost of living (relative to CA,NY, NJ etc.)

    2. Warm weather/nice beaches

    3. Favorable tax policies (although this can be overstated)

    4. Family ties – this is a bigger deal for Black Americans as many of us have historic ties to the south that some of us want to return to. But I’m sure this is an issue for some White families too.

    5. Politics – this isn’t as big of a factor now, but having open schools was legitimately a huge deal during the pandemic.

  46. It’s cheaper.

    Like, seriously, that is it. Everybody I know who has moved down there from NYC isn’t really happy about it, they just had to because they needed the money.

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