A hurricane of progressives and liberals is bearing down on southeastern and Appalachian states. The high cost of living, burgeoning taxes, and strangling small business regulations in deep blue enclaves have prompted a great migration in America.
Residents from Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey, and Washington have decided enough is enough – and where they chose to land marks a change in moving trends.
CraftJack, an aggregate platform for contractor leads, analyzed the US Census data and concluded: “Many Americans are also changing the type of area where they live. More than half (55%) reported leaving the suburbs, 29% left urban areas, and 15% left rural areas.” Roam if you want to, as the song goes.
Not Texas, Not Florida
The last few years, most internal migration from progressive-run states was toward Texas and Florida. But two recent surveys tell a new tale: Folks that fled to the Lone Star and Sunshine states are packing it up again: “This year’s PODS long-distance moving data reveals that movers are swapping out previously hot move-to markets like Florida and Texas for spots in Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia,” the report stated. “More than 60 percent of the most moved-to cities were in these three southern states, with the Carolinas accounting for 30 percent of the top 20 cities with the most move-ins.”
(Photo by David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Florida is beautiful, warm, and conservative; it’s also unaffordable to the middle class. The magic has lost a bit of luster between hurricanes and skyrocketing insurance prices. As the PODS people explained, “In other words, the risks and costs of owning a home in Florida may outweigh the reasons to move to Florida.”
Not everyone in the Sunshine State agrees, though. “The rate at which people are coming in [to Florida] has slowed,” says Brad O’Connor, chief economist of the Florida Realtors, only because the pandemic inflated previous numbers.
Too much migration into Texas has finally taken a toll, as well. With housing prices soaring off the charts, the bloom is a bit off the yellow rose. So, what is the lure of a southeastern state besides good manners and great food?
Affordable and Fun
The middle class has been decimated in the most overtaxed and overregulated states. The median price of a home in Los Angeles is $1,049,500, whereas in Horry County, South Carolina, it is $324,900 – and that’s where Myrtle Beach is located. Try beachfront property in any part of California or New York.
How about a dive into Alabama? The state has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country. If you want a job in aerospace, information technology, or healthcare, you can find Alfa Insurance, Nou Systems, or Encompass Health. Outdoor living is a plus: There is something to do outside nearly every day of the year.
Equally interesting is that Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers all agree that affordability is the primary reason for relocating. Architectural Digest did a little research and uncovered this anomaly of compatibility:
- Gen Z and millennials are on the move. About 39% have relocated or plan to in 2024, driven by affordability, jobs, and safety concerns.
- Americans crave more affordable living: 29% plan to move this year to lower their cost of living.
- Gen Z (28%) and baby boomers (18%) would be willing to move to communities that share their beliefs and values.
- More than 30% of younger generations (Gen Z and millennials) want to relocate to a safer area.
Defunding the police, millions of undocumented aliens siphoning off American benefits, inflation, and over-taxation seem to be common themes in deep blue states – but will this great American migration relieve the pressure, or will people bring the very problems they flee along with them?
Americans have always been on the move, but internal migration had been on the decline during the 21st century until now. Nearly one-third of the US population (29%) plan to move in 2024. In today’s dismal economic world, people who can are looking toward greener pastures – and excellent biscuits and gravy.
