Key Takeaways
- The Sun Belt keeps winning. Texas (+85,000), North Carolina (+82,000), South Carolina (+68,000), Florida (+64,000) and Tennessee (+48,000) gained the most residents from other states in 2023โ24.
- California and New York keep losing. California shed a net 240,000 people to other states and New York 121,000 โ by far the biggest outflows, followed by Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
- Itโs a Sun Belt story. PODS reports that 80% of the most popular move-to cities in 2026 are in the Sun Belt โ led by the Carolinas, Florida, Texas and Tennessee.
- Affordability is the driver. High housing costs, taxes and cost of living top the list of reasons people are relocating โ pushing movers from expensive coastal metros toward cheaper, lower-tax states.
- Moves are slowing overall. Roughly 8 in 10 moves now stay within the same state, and total moves have cooled as high prices and locked-in mortgage rates make people relocate more deliberately.
A new PODS Moving Trends report has people talking about where Americans are packing up and heading in 2026 โ and the answer is overwhelmingly the same as recent years: out of the expensive coasts and into the Sun Belt.
To see the bigger picture behind the moving-company headlines, we mapped the latest net domestic migration figures from the U.S. Census Bureau โ the number of people each state gained or lost to other states between July 2023 and July 2024. The pattern is stark.
The states gaining the most
Texas led the country, adding a net 85,000 residents from other states, with North Carolina (+82,000) close behind and South Carolina (+68,000) third. Florida (+64,000) and Tennessee (+48,000) round out the top five, followed by Arizona, Alabama and Georgia. Every one of the biggest winners is a Southern or Mountain-West state with relatively low taxes and lower housing costs.
This lines up closely with the PODS data. Its top move-to markets for 2026 are dominated by the Carolinas and Florida โ Myrtle Beach/Wilmington, Ocala, DallasโFort Worth, Raleigh, Greenville-Spartanburg, Charlotte, Boise, Knoxville, Sarasota and Jacksonville. PODS notes that 80% of its most popular destinations are in the Sun Belt, with Florida and Tennessee tied for the most cities on the list.
The states losing the most
At the other end, California lost a net 240,000 residents to other states โ more than any state by a wide margin โ and New York lost 121,000. Illinois (-56,000), New Jersey (-36,000) and Massachusetts (-27,000) followed. These are high-cost, high-tax states with expensive housing markets.
PODS sees the same exodus at the city level: its top move-from markets are Los Angeles, South Florida (Miami), Northern California, Washington DC, Long Island, Central New Jersey, Boston, the Hudson Valley, Chicago and San Diego. Note the twist โ Florida appears on both lists: people are leaving pricey Miami / South Florida even as others pour into cheaper Florida metros like Ocala, Sarasota and Jacksonville.
Why people are moving
The through-line is affordability. In PODSโs survey, cost โ housing, taxes and overall cost of living โ is the leading reason people relocate, ahead of jobs. States with no state income tax (Texas, Florida, Tennessee) and cheaper housing are pulling movers out of California and the Northeast, where high prices and, in Californiaโs case, wildfire risk add extra pressure.
At the same time, Americans are moving less overall. Roughly 8 in 10 moves now stay within the same state, and the total number of long-distance moves has cooled as high home prices and locked-in low mortgage rates make people think twice. The moves that do happen are increasingly deliberate โ and increasingly pointed at the Sun Belt.
The headline hasnโt changed in five years: money is moving people, and itโs moving them south and west. As long as the cost gap between the coasts and the Sun Belt stays this wide, expect Texas, the Carolinas, Florida and Tennessee to keep topping the move-to lists โ and California and New York to keep topping the move-from ones.
