2017 Census Data Show a 'Return to the Suburbs'

Suburban populations are growing, and urban populations are dwindling, according to the Census Bureau's 2017 estimates. Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco were a few of the cities with the lowest net migration. 

In his analysis of the data, Wendell Cox says that the 2017 net migration patterns "resemble a rerun of the 2000s." Austin and Las Vegas were the number one and two cities, and Cox says that the metros with between 500,000 and 1,000,000 residents and with the greatest net domestic migration "are strongly weighted toward retirement destinations." Five of the top 10 migration winners were in Florida, a retirement capital of the U.S., per New Geography.

Since 2012, net domestic migration in the major metropolitan areas have dropped every year. By 2016, the major metropolitan areas had a net domestic migration loss of 67,000, which accelerated to 166,000 in 2017. In contrast, the middle-sized metropolitan areas have experienced annual increases in net domestic migration each year since 2012. In 2017, the metropolitan areas with between 500,000 and 1,000,000 population gained 271,000 more net domestic migrants than the metropolitan areas with more than 1,000,000 population.

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