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Big coastal cities, such as New York and San Francisco, experienced dramatic population declines. Cities in the South and West became hotspots for newcomers. Professionals looking for space and affordability traded in their pricey, walkup city apartments for roomy, suburban houses. The pandemic’s work-from-home lifestyle and increased remote work possibilities made moving to a new city easier than ever. Finally, a large generation of retired Baby Boomers were setting their sights on homes in warmer parts of the country, including Florida and South Carolina. Additionally, strong job markets and low costs of living in Sun Belt cities were attracting more professionals. For starters, aging millennials were beginning to start families and seek more spacious homes in suburbs. Though, many would argue the pandemic only exacerbated existing moving trends. There’s no doubt that population shifts during Covid-19 transformed the housing market landscape.
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The pandemic accelerated migration to the Sun Belt and suburbs Of the top 10 biggest cities in the U.S., those with the most positive percent change included Phoenix, AZ (11.2%), Houston (9.8%), Dallas (8.9%) and San Antonio (8.1%). Six of the 15 were located in Texas, including the fastest-growing city of all – Frisco, TX – which boasted a 71.1 percent population growth over the last decade. cities, eight were located in the South and five in the West. Among the top 15 fastest-growing large U.S. Census data revealed that large cities in the South grew at a faster pace than in any other region of the country. In fact, all the top 25 big cities in America showed an increase in population growth from 2010 to 2020. *Latest Census Population Estimates for Cities and Towns (May 26, 2022) Cities were only getting largerīefore Covid-19, large U.S. So, what did these population shifts look like and what do they mean for the future of the U.S. The pandemic’s impact on workplace flexibility and homebuyer preferences for spacious houses accelerated moving trends that were already beginning to take shape: moving to the ‘burbs and moving to the Sun Belt. After a decade of steady population gains, Covid-19 brought a halt to the growth of many of America’s largest coastal cities.