Mapped: The States Americans Are Fleeing—and Moving To

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Mapped: The States Americans Are Fleeing—and Moving To

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Key Takeaways

• North Carolina attracted more domestic movers than any other state in 2025, gaining 84,100 residents from elsewhere in the U.S.
• California (-229,100) and New York (-137,600) remained the nation’s largest sources of domestic outmigration.
• While Sun Belt states still dominated migration gains, several Midwestern states posted positive inflows as affordability pressures spread across previously hot markets.

Americans are still moving in large numbers, but the destinations are shifting.

In 2025, North Carolina attracted more domestic migrants than any other state, while California and New York recorded the largest population losses to other parts of the country.

This map shows net domestic migration by state from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The measure captures moves between U.S. states and excludes both international immigration and natural population growth.

The results suggest that the migration patterns that defined the early 2020s are evolving as housing costs rise across many of America’s fastest-growing regions.

North Carolina Leads the Nation

North Carolina attracted the largest net inflow of domestic migrants in 2025, gaining more than 84,000 residents from other states.

Texas followed with 67,300 net arrivals, while South Carolina added 66,600 movers and Tennessee gained more than 42,000.

North Carolina’s first-place finish highlights a broader shift in domestic migration, as strong job growth and lower housing costs helped it attract more movers than any other state in 2025.

The Sun Belt’s Affordability Advantage Is Narrowing

Texas and Florida remain among the country’s biggest migration winners, but both have experienced a significant slowdown from their recent highs.

The slowdown is especially notable because Texas and Florida were the dominant migration magnets of the pandemic era. While both still posted sizable gains in 2025, neither came close to the record inflows seen just a few years ago.

Rising property taxes, increasing home insurance costs, and higher housing prices have reduced some of the affordability advantages that originally attracted newcomers.

The Midwest Makes a Comeback

One of the most notable developments in 2025 was the improvement in migration performance across parts of the Midwest.

Ohio posted a net gain of nearly 12,000 residents, while Minnesota added more than 8,000.

For households priced out of many coastal and Sun Belt markets, Midwestern states increasingly offer a combination of lower home prices, lower living costs, and growing employment opportunities. That helped states such as Ohio, Minnesota, and Indiana post net migration gains in 2025.

California and New York Still Lead Outflows

Despite some improvement from recent peaks, California and New York remained the largest sources of domestic outmigration.

California lost more than 229,000 residents to other states in 2025, while New York saw a net loss of nearly 138,000.

Other states experiencing notable outflows included Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

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