Major U.S. metros like New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco lost hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and as thousands more seek out rural and suburban living elsewhere, one trend is becoming increasingly clear: Americans no longer want to live in cities. From 2020 to 2021, metropolitan Los Angeles lost nearly 176,000 residents while San Francisco reported a loss of more than 116,000 residents, the American Enterprise Institute reports.
Popular cities like San Jose, Boston, Miami, and Washington each lost tens of thousands of residents during the pandemic, and many migrating residents don’t plan to return. Roughly 15% of Americans say they would prefer living in a town, while 27% favor rural areas compared to just 9% who would prefer to live in a large city.
Indeed, after being homebound for many months due to the pandemic, more Americans now express a desire for personal space than ever before. The majority of Americans today are willing to sacrifice easy access to amenities to have more space to themselves and distance from their neighbors, and city life is simply not where those desires are realized. Perhaps driven by idealized visions of rural life — small, tight-knit communities that move at a more leisurely pace — many Americans express a preference for small-town life.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Affordability
Data Show Most Americans Are Struggling to Afford a Home
40.5 million households can only afford to purchase a $150,000 home
Single-Family Homes
US Single-Family Housing Inventory Is Up but Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
Housing inventory increased by 83% from the record low for the same week in 2021
Build to Rent
Single-Family Rent Growth Remains Elevated, Despite Dip in Multifamily Rental Rates
Multifamily rent growth, specifically, is decelerating since its year-over-year peak of +16.3% in 2022, but in many markets, single-family rents are continuing to rise