Something notable has been happening to America’s most iconic cities over the past few years. The people with the most options – high earners, mobile professionals, business owners – have been choosing to exercise those options and leave. It’s not a panic, and it’s rarely a single dramatic reason. It’s more of a quiet arithmetic: taxes too high, housing too expensive, quality of life not keeping pace with the cost of it.
Millions of Americans, along with significant amounts of income and economic activity, are moving from high-tax states to those with more competitive tax systems and lower overall costs of living. The cities covered here aren’t failing overnight. Most are still vibrant, globally recognized places. But the data tells a consistent story about who is deciding to go – and where they end up instead.
New York City, New York
New York City, New York (Image Credits: Pixabay)
In 2025, New York City lost 114,000 more New Yorkers to other U.S. cities than it gained. New York City’s population declined by 12,196 between 2024 and 2025, the greatest numeric decrease in the nation. The city had seen a brief rebound driven by immigration surges in 2023 and 2024, but those gains evaporated as federal immigration policy tightened.
In the first quarter of 2026, the median asking rent reached $3,616, requiring about $145,000 in annual income to meet standard affordability benchmarks, while the city’s median household income is roughly $85,549. The data reveals a consistent pattern: people earning between $51,000 and $200,000 account for the largest proportion of total outflows from New York City – not the ultra-wealthy, but the middle and upper-middle class. Florida and Connecticut attract the highest volumes of departing higher-income New Yorkers, drawn by tax advantages and relative proximity.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California (Image Credits: Unsplash)
San Francisco has been one of the nation’s biggest population losers since the start of the 2020 pandemic. The city gained roughly 1,200 people by July 2023, but that still left it seven percent smaller than its peak in 2019. California lost nearly 240,000 residents in 2024, the largest outmigration of any state, and year-over-year data shows San Francisco median home prices declining while remaining deeply unaffordable.
California continues to be one of the highest outbound states due to its high housing costs, high taxes, and rising living expenses, with San Francisco residents moving to places like Nevada and Texas for more affordable living and job opportunities. Hundreds of companies have moved headquarters and jobs out of California alone, with major names including CBRE Group, Charles Schwab, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle, and Pabst Brewing relocating to Texas. When employers leave, high-earning employees often follow.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California (Image Credits: Rawpixel)
Phoenix and Seattle made up a sizeable chunk of outbound flow from Los Angeles in 2025, as many Angelenos sought cheaper, calmer, or easier alternatives. While LA is still pulling in newcomers, it’s not nearly at the same pace as those leaving, likely due to the city’s higher cost of living and changing climate. Atlanta’s median home price sat at $445,000, compared to $1.499 million in Los Angeles – a gap that makes the calculus for relocation fairly straightforward for anyone with a portable income.
California has experienced persistent domestic outmigration for years, with approximately 230,000 residents per year leaving for other states on a net basis. California was the top outbound state for the second year in a row according to North American Van Lines’ 2025 migration report. For Los Angeles specifically, the combination of crime concerns, wildfire risk, and punishing housing costs has eroded the lifestyle premium that once justified staying.
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago, Illinois (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Chicago has consistently been one of the most significant outbound cities in recent years. High taxes, crime rates, and costly living are factors driving people to relocate, particularly to states like Tennessee and Texas, which offer better economic prospects and a lower cost of living. Illinois has seen a population decline for ten consecutive years, with over 100,000 residents leaving in 2024. High property taxes, economic uncertainty, and harsh winters push many to states with better financial stability.
A decade of fiscal troubles, budget impasses, and high taxation in Illinois – particularly high property taxes – have made the state less attractive, and when Illinoisans are asked why they consider leaving, high taxes are often the top reason. Illinois has also proposed newly taxing a significant portion of Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income as of tax year 2025, retroactively increasing tax burdens for businesses and further hindering Illinois’ business tax competitiveness. That kind of policy environment accelerates the departure of exactly the high-income earners and business owners a city most needs to retain.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington (Image Credits: Unsplash)
In 2024, Washington saw notable outbound migration, with many residents moving out of the state in search of more affordable living options and better job opportunities. Rising housing costs, higher taxes, and limited space in metropolitan areas like Seattle were key drivers behind this trend. Texas replaced Washington as the fifth top outbound state for 2025, signaling that the Seattle metro’s long period as a tech-driven magnet is facing real headwinds.
In 2025, Americans increasingly moved to places with affordable housing and cheaper communities. Many working professionals who still have remote jobs relocated from expensive cities such as Seattle to cities like Boise or Nashville. The irony is that Seattle’s tech boom priced out the very workforce that supported the local economy beyond the tech sector, nudging long-time residents and even mid-level professionals toward more forgiving markets.
Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Redfin reported that for the first time since 2019, high-flood-risk areas in the United States saw a net domestic outflow of nearly 29,000 people in 2024. Miami-Dade County recorded the worst domestic outflow among high-flood-risk counties. Miami and San Diego stand out as the most cost-strained cities, where food and housing alone consume nearly half of income. In Miami, rent growth continues to outpace wage gains, while strong population inflows are keeping housing demand elevated.
Once the golden child of net migration, Florida seems to have officially lost its appeal. In 2024, Florida saw about half of the net migration numbers from the previous year. For Miami specifically, the combination of climate risk, soaring insurance premiums, and a cost of living that now rivals coastal California has made even committed residents reconsider. Wealthy buyers still arrive, but departures among upper-middle-income earners have become harder to ignore.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. (Image Credits: Unsplash)
From July 2024 to July 2025, blue states such as New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts continued to see net population losses. Washington, D.C. sits in a uniquely complicated position within this national pattern. The federal workforce that historically anchored its economy and attracted high-earning professionals has been under pressure from federal workforce restructuring, creating uncertainty about the city’s long-term employment base.
While New York may still be a global magnet, Bank of America internal data shows that the U.S. consumer is not shy about leaving. New York City posted the second largest outflow of people in 2025, and D.C. shows comparable patterns as departing residents track toward Southern and Mid-Atlantic alternatives. More than one in four new residents to Philadelphia in late 2025 came from New York City, with Philadelphia continuing to function as a regional magnet for affordability-minded movers. Many who might once have chosen Washington are increasingly choosing Philadelphia or Charlotte instead.
Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado (Image Credits: Unsplash)
Colorado experienced significant outbound migration, ranking as one of the top states for residents leaving. Many people moved due to high living costs, especially in metropolitan areas like Denver and Boulder. Denver’s transformation over the past decade from an affordable mountain-city option into one of the pricier metros in the Mountain West has been striking. The median home price in the U.S. reached $420,000 in early 2024, up from the prior year, while in Austin, Texas, home prices increased by roughly eight percent year-over-year – and Denver tracked a similar trajectory before the market began cooling.
San Francisco and Denver, which had been net-loss metros on U-Haul’s index, both flipped to net-gain markets in 2025 and entered U-Haul’s top 25 growth metros for the first time. That’s a notable bright spot, suggesting Denver may be stabilizing. Still, the high-income outflow of prior years hollowed out parts of the city’s tax base, and housing costs remain well above what much of Colorado’s workforce can comfortably absorb. Whether the recent shift is a genuine turning point or a temporary pause remains to be seen.