Each year, tens of millions of Americans move to a new area. Historically, a new job or job transfer has accounted for about one in every 10 of those moves, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. However, as remote work becomes an option for a growing number of workers, more Americans are free to prioritize other factors when choosing a place to live — and one of them is cost of living.
A recent survey from the Pew Research Center found that before the pandemic, only 20% of Americans who could work remotely did so. During the pandemic, that figure surged to over 70% — and many of those workers may not be required to return to the office.
As fewer workers are tethered to a physical office, places like New York City and Silicon Valley — employment hubs with nation-leading costs of living — are reporting net population declines. Meanwhile, many cities where the cost of living is relatively low have grown considerably.
Goods and services in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area are about 9.9% less expensive than they are on average nationwide. The St. Louis metro area had an estimated net inflow of 1,973 new residents from July 2020 to April 2021 — the 30th most of the 93 metro areas with available migration data and a lower than average cost of living. The number of Americans who moved there in recent months is equal to about 0.1% of the local population.
According to online search data from Redfin, a national real estate brokerage, the interest in real estate in St. Louis is coming more from the Denver-Aurora, CO metro area than anywhere else. An estimated 12.1% of all online searches for homes in the St. Louis area are from the Denver metro area.
All data on population change from net migration and online real estate searches are from Redfin.com, a national real estate brokerage. Data on regional price parity, or cost of living, is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and is for 2019.
RankMetro areaNet inflow, July 2020 to April 202Cost of livingTop feeder metro area1Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ33,2551.3% less than avg.Los Angeles2Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV31,3263.1% less than avg.Los Angeles3Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX28,9520.7% less than avg.San Jose4Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA24,3812.1% less than avg.New York5Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL20,5231.2% less than avg.Orlando6Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL17,6122.3% less than avg.Chicago7Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN15,7865.6% less than avg.New York8Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL15,4991% less than avg.New York9Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC11,8065.6% less than avg.New York10San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX11,0866.7% less than avg.Houston11Raleigh-Cary, NC10,3773.9% less than avg.New York12Jacksonville, FL8,2074.6% less than avg.Washington, D.C13Boise City, ID6,4246.4% less than avg.Los Angeles14Salisbury, MD-DE5,54810% less than avg.Washington, D.C15Bakersfield, CA5,2673% less than avg.Los Angeles16Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC5,2483.6% less than avg.Washington, D.C17Wenatchee, WA5,0800.5% less than avg.Seattle18Charleston-North Charleston, SC4,9642.9% less than avg.New York19Salt Lake City, UT4,7981.4% less than avg.Los Angeles20Cleveland-Elyria, OH4,45710.1% less than avg.Detroit21Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC4,3147.8% less than avg.Washington, D.C22Albuquerque, NM3,3856.4% less than avg.Denver23Reno, NV3,3291.6% less than avg.San Jose24Kansas City, MO-KS3,2157.2% less than avg.Denver25New Orleans-Metairie, LA3,1066.9% less than avg.Los Angeles26Knoxville, TN2,98411.6% less than avg.New York27Asheville, NC2,9836.5% less than avg.Washington, D.C28Greenville-Anderson, SC2,4989.3% less than avg.New York29Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI2,1248% less than avg.Detroit30St. Louis, MO-IL1,9739.9% less than avg.Denver
