Published by REALTOR.com | June 21, 2024
Much of this mass migration has to do with real estate prices, which have shot up astronomically in blue-state strongholds such as California and New York.
America’s Republican-leaning red states are winning at drawing in new residents from blue states—but locals don’t like it one bit.
The Republican counties—defined by the 2020 presidential vote—gained 3.7 million more people than they’ve lost since 2020. Meanwhile, Democratic “blue” counties lost 3.7 million more residents than they gained over that same time frame, according to a Stateline analysis of U.S. Census Bureau estimates and county presidential election data by the University of Michigan.
Much of this mass migration has to do with real estate prices, which have shot up astronomically in blue-state strongholds such as California and New York.
This has sparked a flood of residents fleeing toward—or looking to move to—more affordable red states.
In California, for example, residents home shopping out-of-state were most commonly checking out listings in Florida with 10.56% of online views, according to an analysis of Realtor.com® data. Texas was close behind, at 7.60%, followed by Arizona with 6.89%. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Nevada—which earned 6.53% views—saw an influx of migration from the state. Listings in Tennessee also racked up viewers from the blue state (4.49%).
Meanwhile, Realtor.com data also shows that in New York, 19.6% of out-of-state online property views were also pining for Florida, 9% for Pennsylvania, 7% for North Carolina, and 5.93% for Ohio.
But now, locals there are starting to bemoan the demise of their small-town way of life and the skyrocketing home prices that come along with an influx of migrants. Others point out that their infrastructure can’t keep up with so many new residents.
