Top City-to-City Domestic Migration Trends in 2025
Austin Luxury Group|August 8, 2025
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Ever wondered what the most popular destinations are in the U.S. for people interested in relocating to a new city? U.S. News examined the top city-to-city migration paths to uncover where people are moving from—and where they’re going. Using internet search data for moves from origin to destination in the first half of 2025, the analysis identified the top 50 migration paths for Americans seeking a new home base.
This report explores the factors driving relocation to different cities and regions across the country, as well as the appeal behind today’s most sought-after destinations.
New York City, New York; Los Angeles, California; and Chicago, Illinois, all appear frequently on the top 50 migration paths list in both the origin and destination spots. However, the most popular destination locations are New York City and Chicago with eight mentions each; Austin, Texas, with six; and Seattle, Washington, and Texas’s Houston and Dallas with four.
The 50 most popular migration paths:
New York City to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to New York City
West Des Moines, Iowa, to Phoenix, Arizona
San Francisco, California, to New York City
Charlotte, North Carolina, to Chicago
San Francisco to Austin
New York City to San Francisco
Chicago to New York City
San Francisco to Seattle
New York City to Chicago
Chicago to Los Angeles
Chicago to Houston
Los Angeles to Dallas
New York City to Miami, Florida
Houston to Austin
Chicago to Denver, Colorado
Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Nevada
Seattle to New York City
Los Angeles to Miami
Los Angeles to Austin
Fairfax, Virginia, to Mary Esther, Florida
Seattle to San Francisco
Los Angeles to Houston
Dallas to Houston
Atlanta, Georgia, to New York City
Los Angeles to Seattle
Boston, Massachusetts, to New York City
Chicago to Seattle
Los Angeles to Atlanta
Seattle to Chicago
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to New York City
Dallas to Chicago
Chicago to Dallas
Los Angeles to Chicago
New York City to Philadelphia
Austin to Portland, Oregon
Dallas to Austin
Austin to Dallas
San Diego, California, to Seattle
Austin to Houston
Chicago to Austin
Atlanta to Chicago
Charlotte, North Carolina, to Dallas
Austin to Los Angeles
Denver to Chicago
New York City to Boston
New York City to Austin
Fremont, California, to Atlanta
Austin to Chicago
Miami to New York City
Looking at the data, it’s clear Americans on the move aren’t shying away from big cities, although they could be focused on suburbs or smaller neighborhoods in those cities.
The top two starting and ending points on our migration path list, New York City and Los Angeles, are vast metropolitan areas with high costs of living. Moves between these two cities might relate to job opportunities or just be a calling to those seeking a different climate and lifestyle. You’ll get all four seasons in New York City but more sunshine in Los Angeles, while both have typical big-city issues like high housing costs and congested traffic, although New York City has a well-developed public transit system.
Domestic migration interest was highest for moves originating in Western states for destinations in the South as well as other Western cities. Texas in-state moves also popped up as having high interest, with some Texas residents looking to expand their horizons in a new city. Here’s more on how these and other geographic regions were represented in online searches in the first half of this year.
South Is Most Popular Move Destination
Not surprisingly, the South is the most appealing region to move to, according to our data, with 19 of the 50 migration paths ending in a Southern location. U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 migration trends report also found that interest in living in the South is strong.
Among the domestic migration trends we found, seven originated in California – Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fremont – while others related to in-state moves and others to relocations from the Midwest or East Coast. The most popular destinations in the South were Austin, Houston and Dallas in Texas. Other cities included Atlanta, Miami and Mary Esther, Florida, which is situated between two U.S. Air Force bases.
Moving to Southern cities can mean a higher quality of life for California transplants, as the cost of living is typically lower in the South, so housing and other necessities should be more affordable.
Western Moves Also Popular
Moves to or within Western states, primarily between California and Washington for those relocating to another West Coast city, were also popularly searched. We found 13 pathways to Western cities that originated from all parts of the country.
People interested in moving from San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego in California, as well as Seattle, were joined by others in Chicago, Austin and New York City looking to make a move westward. A pathway from West Des Moines to Phoenix also emerged, with some residents likely seeking warmer year-round weather, perhaps for retirement.
The most popular Western destinations were Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, followed by Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver and Portland. However, out-migration trends for Los Angeles – showing people also wanting to move out of the city – were high as well.
While some residents following a migration path to or in the West won’t see a drastic cost-of-living change – such as New York City to San Francisco, San Diego to Seattle or Austin to Portland – others will. This includes those making a move from Austin to Los Angeles or West Des Moines to Phoenix.
Moves in East Focus on New York City
Many internet searches led to New York City as the destination for relocations, with origin points including Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami and Chicago. In fact, only two popular migration trends showed other destination locations, and they originated in New York City.
Only four of the origin locations were outside of the Eastern U.S., with three from the West and one from the Midwest. Like New York City, most of the origin locations have high costs of living, so lifestyle changes may be minimal, with the exception of climate, as New York City offers a climate much different than Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles.
Chicago Is Midwest Hot Spot
Every one of the migration pathways to the Midwest we found in our data ended in Chicago, with starting locations including Charlotte, Dallas, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver and New York City. However, this finding is tempered by migration trends showing residents are also looking to move out of the city.
People moving from places like New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver most likely won’t experience sticker shock when moving to Chicago, as the cost of living is higher or similar. Residents moving from Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Austin, though, should be able to stretch their budgets further after a move to the Windy City.
The most popular migration destinations have some similarities that may be driving interest in moving to these cities.
Economic Factors and Affordability
All but one of the cities that appear most frequently on our list of popular destinations has a strong economy and diverse employment opportunities, with Seattle’s economy struggling a bit. However, larger cities will typically have higher housing costs, including rental rates. Moving to a suburb of the metropolitan area may bring down those costs, but you’ll need to factor in commute costs and time if you’re going into an office.
Climate
Residents in New York City and Chicago will see all of the seasons and also experience some harsh weather during the winter months. Conversely, temperatures will be milder in Texas and Seattle. Days of sunshine also vary among these cities, with the most prevalent sunshine in Texas. Austin typically has about 300 sunny days per year, while Dallas averages about 232 and Houston about 200 annually.
The other cities on our list – New York City, Chicago and Seattle – all see less sunshine and more clouds and rainfall on average.
While climate most likely factors into quality of life for new transplants, other considerations can include a high-functioning public transportation system, educational opportunities for all family members, good-paying jobs, safe and affordable housing, freedom of expression and diverse cultural attractions and other entertainment.
Lifestyle can also be a major factor, such as in cities that offer mild year-round weather ideal for retirees.
Many of the destination cities in our data offer some, if not all, of these attributes, and some cities are more affordable than others.
The Sun Belt is the most popular region of the U.S. based on interest in city-to-city migration paths. Of the 19 pathways in our data that lead to Southern cities, seven originated in the West, seven in other Southern cities, three in the Midwest and two in the Northeast. Austin was the ending point for six pathways, making it the most popular among Southern move locations. However, it was also the origin point for five pathways, including for moves to the West, Midwest and other Southern locations.
In the Northeast, New York City was the top destination for move interest, appearing eight times. Origin cities included all regions of the U.S., from Los Angeles to Miami. New York City also appeared seven times as the starting point for moves to the South, West, Midwest and other parts of the Northeast like Boston and Philadelphia.
Chicago was the most popular destination in the Midwest, with eight inbound pathways leading to this city for moves from the South and West mostly. However, Chicago was also the starting point for seven relocation paths mostly to the South and West but also to the East.
