Although the population continues to increase, fewer Americans decided to move in 2022. After a historically low moving rate in 2021, data indicates that even fewer Americans moved across the country last year. But this is not a new trend. Millions of people moved during the pandemic, driven by the opportunity to work remotely, the desire for more space, and better affordability. Nevertheless, the moving rate has declined for the last six years. While the Census Bureau hasn’t yet released the moving rate for 2022, another source of migration data – the United States Postal Service® change-of-address data – demonstrates a persistent declining migration trend for 2022 as well. Nearly 70% of the ZIP codes across the United States experienced fewer inbound moves in 2022 compared to 2021.
2022 Domestic Net Migration by State
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the net domestic migration – the number of people moving in and out of an area – for each state in 2022. Twenty-six states experienced an influx of people, with more people moving in than out, while twenty-five states lost movers. Florida (318,855), Texas (230,961), and the Carolinas – North Carolina (99,796) and South Carolina (84,030) – were the states with the most net domestic migration gains in 2022. Positive net domestic migration and positive net international migration significantly boosted population growth in these areas. Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9% within a year. In fact, that was the first time since 1957 that Florida’s population grew faster than anywhere else across the United States. With most of these fast-growing areas located in the South, this region continues to be the most populous region, with nearly 130 million residents.
However, California (-343,230), New York (-299,557), and Illinois (-141,656) experienced the largest net domestic outmigration. As a result, the population dropped even further in these states. Despite this decrease, California remained the most populous state, with nearly 39 million residents statewide.
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