Fastest Growing ZIP Codes in America: 2026 Migration Data

• By Mike McCall
Fastest Growing ZIP Codes in America: 2026 Migration Data

Something has shifted in how Americans choose where to live.

For most of the past decade, the story was simple: people were leaving expensive coastal cities and heading to the Sun Belt. Texas and Florida absorbed millions of new residents. The pattern held year after year, and it made the destination feel almost inevitable.

The 2025 and 2026 migration data tells a more complicated story. Texas and Florida are still growing — but both have been reclassified as “balanced” states by major moving companies, meaning inbound and outbound moves are now roughly equal. New corridors are emerging. Specific ZIP codes are heating up almost overnight. And a historic drop in immigration has exposed which communities were genuinely chosen by Americans — and which were simply absorbing whoever arrived.

For context on the retirement-age component of this migration, see Where Retirees Are Moving in 2026. For the financial pressures driving relocation decisions, see The Retirement Savings Crisis.

The U.S. added 1.78 million people between July 2024 and July 2025, reaching a total population of 341.8 million — roughly half the 3.2 million added the year before. 1

The cause: a 54% decline in net international migration, dropping from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in a single year. If current trends continue, that number is projected to fall to approximately 321,000 by mid-2026. 1

Fastest-Growing States (Census Bureau Vintage 2025)

  • South Carolina — 1.5% growth, driven almost entirely by domestic migration
  • Idaho — 1.4% growth, domestic-migration led
  • North Carolina — 1.3%
  • Texas — 1.2%, led the nation in absolute numbers with 391,243 new residents
  • Florida — Added 196,980 residents, second nationally in absolute growth 2

Five states lost population outright: California, Hawaii, Vermont, West Virginia, and New Mexico. 2

The Hottest ZIP Codes: What the Move Data Shows

The most granular picture of ZIP-level growth comes from MovingPlace, which tracks millions of verified residential moves annually through parent company Porch Group. Two metrics matter here and they tell different stories. Moves per capita identifies ZIP codes experiencing explosive growth relative to their current size. Total move volume identifies the ZIP codes absorbing the largest absolute number of new residents.

Hottest ZIP Codes by Moves Per Capita — January 2026

Based on analysis of 696,230 residential moves in December 2025: 3

  • 34987 — Port Saint Lucie, FL — 16.2 moves per 1,000 residents (4th consecutive month in top 10)
  • 75114 — Crandall, TX — 12.4 moves per capita (suburb 27 miles southeast of Dallas, median home $369K)
  • 87001 — Algodones, NM — 12.1 moves per capita
  • 80019 — Aurora, CO — top 5 nationally
  • 37228 — Nashville, TN — consistent top 10 performer across multiple months
  • 85387 — Surprise, AZ — northwest Phoenix metro, new master-planned communities
  • 78701 — Austin, TX — 10.3 moves per capita, downtown core, median household income $154,867
  • 28445 — Holly Ridge, NC — 9.9 moves per capita, affordable coastal lifestyle
  • 33576 — San Antonio, FL — 9.7 moves per capita, north of Tampa
  • 75251 — Dallas, TX — 9.6 moves per capita, urban mixed-use corridor 3

Hottest ZIP Codes by Total Move Volume — Full Year 2025

Based on analysis of 6.3 million moves in the first half of 2025: 4

  • 77433 — Cypress, TX — 3,638 inbound moves, most of any ZIP in America
  • 78130 — New Braunfels, TX — 3,486 moves; grew 56.4% in population between 2010 and 2020
  • 34787 — Winter Garden, FL — 3,442 moves; Orlando suburb with walkable downtown and strong school ratings

Texas claimed 29 of the top 100 ZIP codes for inbound moves in 2025. Texas, Florida, and Arizona together accounted for nine of the ten most moved-to ZIP codes in the country. 4

March 2026: The Most Current Snapshot

The March 2026 MovingPlace report, analyzing February migration data: 5

  • 37228 — Nashville, TN — 12.8 moves per capita, leading the nation for its second time in three months
  • 75071 — McKinney, 78641 — Leander, 78130 — New Braunfels, and Katy — consistent top total-volume performers in Texas
  • 85338 — Goodyear, AZ — first national top-10 appearance, southwest Phoenix metro
  • 34787 — Winter Garden, FL — 211 moves in February, holding position as one of Central Florida’s most stable growth markets 5

What Is Driving Growth in These ZIP Codes

1. Affordability at the Edges of Major Metros

Nearly every high-volume ZIP code sits on the commutable fringe of a large metro area. Crandall (75114) is 27 miles from Dallas. Leander (78641) is north of Austin. San Antonio, FL (33576) sits north of Tampa. Winter Garden (34787) is west of Orlando. Median home prices in the hottest suburban ZIP codes generally range from $319,000 to $462,500 — still well below the urban cores they border.

2. New Construction and Inventory

The ZIP codes with the highest sustained volume share one structural advantage: builders are active and inventory exists. McKinney (75071), Leander (78641), New Braunfels (78130), and Katy keep appearing in total volume rankings because they have land, builders, and buyers in continuous alignment. 5

3. Lifestyle, Climate, and Tax Environment

The Sun Belt states dominating migration share overlapping advantages: no state income tax (Texas, Florida, Nevada), warm climates, and relatively lower cost of living. People are no longer just picking a state — they are picking a specific neighborhood within that state. Once a location proves its value, competition follows quickly.

The Emerging Stories: Surprises in the 2025-2026 Data

The Midwest Is Quietly Turning Around

The Census Bureau’s January 2026 data confirmed the Midwest recorded positive net domestic migration for the first time this decade in 2025. Ohio went from losing 32,482 residents on a net domestic basis in 2021 to gaining 11,926 in 2025. Bank of America Institute found that three of the five fastest-growing metro statistical areas in Q4 2025 were in the Midwest — with Indianapolis and Columbus holding the top two spots. 1 6

Texas and Florida Have Reached a Turning Point

Both Texas and Florida were classified as “balanced” states by United Van Lines — inbound and outbound moves now roughly equal. Growth is becoming more selective. Specific suburban corridors are still pulling strong numbers, but the broad “move anywhere in Texas or Florida” pattern is giving way to a more targeted analysis of specific communities. 2

California’s Immigration Dependency Exposed

California lost roughly 9,000 residents on a net basis between July 2024 and July 2025. Its domestic outmigration runs at roughly 230,000 per year. For years, high immigration offset those losses. With immigration declining sharply, that buffer is gone. 2

What the Trend Line Looks Like Heading Into 2026

  • Immigration’s continued decline will make domestic migration the primary driver of population change in most states, benefiting Sunbelt and Mountain West states that attract Americans by choice
  • Suburban corridor growth shows no sign of slowing — Port Saint Lucie (34987), McKinney (75071), Winter Garden (34787), and New Braunfels (78130) reflect genuine, sustained demand
  • The Midwest’s emergence as a destination is new enough that it may not yet be fully priced into housing markets
  • Nashville’s 37228 has reached the national top 10 in moves per capita three times in as many months — structural demand, not a one-month anomaly
  • Early signals from California: four of the top ten month-over-month increases in mover activity in March 2026 were California ZIP codes, a potential early sign that the state’s long outmigration trend may be stabilizing in certain pockets 5

Sources

Page last updated: April 2026. ZIP-level migration rankings are updated monthly by MovingPlace. State-level Census estimates update annually each January.

Footnotes

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, “U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration,” Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, January 27, 2026. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/population-growth-slows.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. KNSI / Multiple sources, “Where Americans are moving in 2026,” citing Census Bureau Vintage 2025 and United Van Lines 49th Annual National Movers Study, March 2026. https://knsiradio.com/2026/03/19/where-americans-are-moving-in-2026-the-cities-gaining-and-losing-the-most-residents/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. MovingPlace / Porch Group, “The Hottest ZIP Codes in America: January 2026 Report,” analyzing 696,230 moves in December 2025. https://www.movingplace.com/moving-advice/hottest-zip-codes-in-america/january-2026 ↩ ↩2

  4. MovingPlace / Porch Group, “The Hottest U.S. ZIP Codes of 2025,” analysis of 6.3 million moves, January–May 2025. https://www.movingplace.com/moving-advice/hottest-zip-codes-2025 ↩ ↩2

  5. MovingPlace / Porch Group, “The Hottest ZIP Codes in America: March 2026 Report,” analyzing February 2026 migration data. https://www.movingplace.com/moving-advice/hottest-zip-codes-in-america/march-2026 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Bank of America Institute, “On the Move: U.S. Migration Patterns,” January 22, 2026. https://institute.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/economic-insights/on-the-move-migration-patterns.pdf ↩

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