Americans appear to be voting with their feet as the country’s most iconic cities continue to see declining populations or struggle to regain their pre-pandemic footing.
On the East Coast, New York City is facing a renewed exodus. According to a Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) study released earlier this month, the Big Apple lost more residents than it gained last year. The report found that New York City lost approximately 114,000 more domestic residents to other U.S. cities than it gained in 2025, reversing two years of marginal growth.
The decline has become so pronounced that even New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has sounded the alarm. Pleading in March for “high net worth” individuals to return, Hochul noted the erosion of the Empire State’s tax base is threatening “the generous social programs that we want to have in our state.”
Hochul admitted that New York is “in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden,” specifically citing “Wall Street businesses looking at Texas” as a primary concern.
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Further north, Boston is struggling to retain its next generation of workers. A 2026 Young Residents Survey from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Foundation, released in April, revealed that 26% of residents aged 20 to 30 plan to leave the area within the next five years.
Of those planning to move, nearly half are looking to exit Massachusetts entirely, with a majority eyeing the Southeast and Southwest. High housing costs remain the primary driver for those planning to leave.
The trend is part of a larger drain on the Commonwealth. An analysis by the Pioneer Institute shows Massachusetts has suffered a net loss of approximately 182,000 residents due to domestic out-migration over the last five years.
The West Coast is seeing similar patterns, particularly in Los Angeles County. The latest U.S. Census data released in March 2026 shows that between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, 53,421 residents left the county—the largest numeric decline of any county in the nation. Since 2020, Los Angeles County’s population has shrunk from roughly 10 million to 9.7 million.
In San Francisco, the population has failed to recover from its pandemic-era low. Despite a localized boom in the artificial intelligence sector, newly released Census estimates show the city’s total population remains well below 2020 levels.
While the coastlines struggle, the Southeast is booming. The Census Bureau reported in March that many of the fastest-growing counties in the country are now concentrated in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
South Carolina has officially claimed the title of the fastest-growing state in the nation. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the Palmetto State’s population surged by 1.5%, fueled by a net influx of 66,622 domestic migrants.
In terms of “income migration,” Florida remains the undisputed king. The Florida Chamber of Commerce reports that the Sunshine State leads the nation with a net income migration of nearly $36.1 billion annually.
A new study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), released on April 7, 2026, confirmed that taxpayers are fleeing high-tax environments for more fiscally friendly states. While Texas and Florida remain the top targets, states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee are also seeing record gains. Notably, the NTUF “Migration in Minutes” metric found that Texas surpassed Florida in 2022 as the state gaining a new taxpayer most frequently—one every 4 minutes and 40 seconds.
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The U.S. Census Bureau’s March report highlighted that the nation’s most populous counties—including Los Angeles, Cook County (Chicago), Harris County (Houston), and the five boroughs of New York City—are feeling the sting of lower Net International Migration (NIM).
Historically, these hubs relied on international arrivals to offset domestic losses. However, the CBC reported a 70% drop in international migration to New York City in 2025 compared to the previous year.
“The nation’s largest counties… are often international migration hubs,” said Census Bureau demographer George M. Hayward. “With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss.”
