Where Are Millennials Moving? The Shift to Suburbia in the Age of Remote Work

Changing trends in state-to-state migration across the US are nothing new. It started with the Carolina Gold Rush in the early 19th century. One hundred years later, industrial expansion witnessed mass migration to the cities, and then 40 years later, the Great Depression saw the trend reversed.

Each of these trends has been driven by its own socio-economic factors, but each has also had certain things in common. The most mobile age group has always been young adults in their late 20s and early 30s—or millennials, as they are currently known. The main driving factor has traditionally been employment-related—these young people are looking to build careers and generate wealth to provide for their growing families.

Millennial Aspirations Driving Suburban Migration Trends

There is no gold rush today, and the US manufacturing industry is declining. Technology is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors and has transformed how people can work across practically every industry.

Fastest-growing employment sectors in the US

Remote or hybrid working practices, such as working from home, video conferencing and so on, allow today’s millennials greater flexibility than ever when it comes to choosing where to put down roots. But millennials also have very different aspirations to previous generations.

Top ten priorities for millennials

For the first time in American history, young adults are willing to sacrifice the acquisition of wealth or tangible assets for more pleasurable life experiences. Even homeownership only just makes the top ten.

Meanwhile the phrase “work life balance” was first coined less than 50 years ago, but today it is a mantra by which we all aspire to live. It has become the number one priority for millennials, who are the first generation to have been born in what we might call the work life balance age.

Where are millennials moving in 2024?

A study by Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found that millennials are abandoning big city living for the suburbs at an unprecedented rate. Census data suggests that millennial suburbanisation is associated with the combined effects of housing affordability, demand for larger homes and changing needs.

It is not just a case of people moving short distances from big cities to the suburbs. 2022 state-to-state migration data from the US Census Bureau shows that variances in affordability and the freedom to work remotely are combining to drive American millennials to neighboring or cheaper states.

States with the highest inbound migration

States with the highest outbound migration

The two data sets need to be analyzed in combination. For example, Connecticut had the highest inbound moving rate. Most of the arrivals came from neighboring states, including New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, each of which saw high levels of outbound migration.

Migration Statistics For Gen-Z Show A Trend Reversal

So, how does this relate to the much-publicized drive of the early 2000s to encourage young adults to return to America’s declining cities? “Youthification,” as University of Waterloo scholar Markus Moos called it, was effective in the first decade of the new millennium.

But 20 years later, the youths are approaching middle age. They have young families and different needs. However, as millennials are growing up and moving out, a new generation is following. Generation Z encompasses today’s teenagers and early 20-somethings. Gen-Zers have similar overall values to their millennial predecessors, but different lifestyles. Last year, USA Today reported on Generation Z’s love affair with big-city living, and Wallethub researched the cities with the greatest net migration for Generation Z.

Cities with highest inbound migration for Gen-Z

This trend extends to all five of the most populous US cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. All showed positive net migration for Generation Z alongside negative net migration for all other generations. For example, while 96,000 millennials abandoned NYC, the number of Generation Z residents grew by more than 3,000 members.

In short, it is almost a case of history repeating itself as Generation Z moves into the compact apartments that millennials are vacating and uses the lifestyle and leisure facilities that millennials are forsaking.

Meanwhile, the millennial cohort continues to pioneer the “work-life balance” age. As they enter their 40s over the coming years, we will see them reshape the suburbs, just as they redefined city living 15-20 years ago. As such, the Harvard study predicts that millennials will shape American suburbia for years to come, and town planners will need to listen to their needs, providing appropriately sized housing and developing the required amenities to attract and retain the millennial population.

Sources

https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/domestic-migration-across-states-age

https://www.thepolicycircle.org/minibrief/migration-between-states/

https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/campaigns/2024/deloitte-2024-genz-millennial-survey.pdf

https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/The-Fastest-Growing-and-Fastest-Declining-Industries-in-the-United-States

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00420980231221048

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098015603292?journalCode=usja

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/real-estate/2023/02/24/genz-moving-big-cities-migration/11337814002/

https://todayshomeowner.com/moving/guides/moving-by-generation/