Remote Work and Relocation: Where Americans Are Moving for Lifestyle

For most of American history, you lived near your job. The company was in Chicago, so you were in Chicago. The hospital was in Houston, so you were in Houston. Your geography was largely set for you.

Remote work broke that deal. Starting in 2020 and accelerating through the years since, millions of Americans gained something their parents never had: the ability to choose where to live based on how they actually want to live — not just where their employer happened to be located.

The result has been one of the largest voluntary reshufflings of the American population in modern history. Americans are still moving in meaningful numbers, still choosing lifestyle and affordability over coastal prestige, and mid-sized Southern and Mountain West cities are winning. This is where the data points in 2026 — and why.

To explore the specific ZIP codes in any destination state mentioned here, use ZipCodePlus.com to drill into demographics, climate, and local data for any address you are considering.

The State of Remote Work in 2026

First, a reality check: the all-remote era has evolved. As of early 2026, roughly 22.6% of U.S. employees work remotely at least part of the time, according to combined Gallup and Stanford research data. Of those remote-capable workers, about 52% are hybrid, 27% are fully remote, and 21% are fully on-site. ¹

Fully remote job postings dropped to around 11% of new listings as of late 2025, down sharply from 21% the year before. Hybrid has become the dominant model, making up about 24% of new job postings in Q4 2025. Return-to-office mandates have accelerated this shift: Amazon called 350,000 employees back to full-time in-person work in early 2025, and the federal government ordered all federal employees to return in person the same month. Today, roughly 27% of companies operate fully in-person, while only 7% still allow fully remote work. ¹

What does that mean for relocation? It means the calculus has shifted. Early pandemic movers could go anywhere and never think twice. Today, hybrid workers need to be within commutable range of an office at least occasionally. That nuance is reshaping which cities are winning the relocation race.

Who Is Leaving — and Where They Are Going

The exodus from high-cost coastal metros is real and ongoing. In 2025, California lost 25.1 residents per 10,000 and New York lost 28.2 per 10,000, according to moving industry analysis. Illinois continues its long-running outflow trend. ²

The reasons are not complicated. Housing costs, state income taxes, insurance expenses, and in California’s case, wildfire risk and natural disaster concerns have combined to push residents out. San Francisco in particular has seen steep population declines as remote and hybrid flexibility let tech workers keep their Bay Area salaries while living somewhere dramatically more affordable. ³

The destination story is consistent: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Idaho rank as the top receiving states. A single data point illustrates the scale: nearly 94,000 Californians moved to Texas in 2023 alone, and that pipeline has not stopped. ³

For 2025 specifically, the HireAHelper Migration Report — based on tracking nearly 15 million adult moves — found that South Carolina welcomed more new residents per capita than any other state. Idaho extended a multi-year run of consistent monthly inflows. Looking into 2026, MoveBuddha projects Knoxville, Tennessee will have the highest in-to-out move ratio of any city, followed by Tulsa, Oklahoma; Vancouver, Washington; and Savannah, Georgia — all mid-sized markets that hit the sweet spot of affordability, lifestyle, and urban infrastructure. ⁴ ⁵

The Cities Winning the Remote Work Relocation Race

One of the clearest trends in recent migration is the outperformance of mid-sized metros over major cities on a per-capita basis. Remote work gave people permission to reconsider cities they had never seriously considered before. Here is where the data points most clearly.

Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

Known as the Research Triangle, the Raleigh-Durham area has added residents steadily throughout the remote work era. Raleigh alone added more than 14,000 residents since 2020, with strong growth in tech and healthcare driving continued job creation. ⁶ Affordable housing relative to coastal metros, strong school districts, mild weather, and an increasingly vibrant food and cultural scene make it one of the most consistently recommended relocation destinations for families and professionals alike. Browse ZIP codes in North Carolina →

Nashville, Tennessee

Tennessee has no state income tax on wages, and Nashville has leveraged its reputation for culture, food, and nightlife into one of the strongest migration stories of the decade. Housing costs have risen to reflect demand, but the city remains significantly more affordable than comparable markets on either coast. The broader metro — including suburbs like Brentwood and Franklin — continues to absorb steady inbound migration from the Northeast and Midwest. Browse ZIP codes in Tennessee →

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga built the United States’ first municipal gigabit fiber internet network, and that infrastructure remains among the fastest and most reliable in the country — a genuine competitive advantage for remote workers whose productivity depends on connectivity. ⁷ The city sits on the Tennessee River with Lookout Mountain on the horizon, housing remains genuinely affordable, and Chattanooga has become a national reference point for what intentional city planning for a remote workforce can look like. Explore Chattanooga ZIP codes →

Boise, Idaho

Boise became a poster child for remote work migration during the early pandemic years, and while the initial surge has moderated, it continues to attract newcomers at above-average rates. ⁶ The combination of mountain access, lower housing costs relative to neighboring Western states, and a growing local tech sector makes the region compelling for remote workers in tech-adjacent fields. The Boise foothills offer hiking and mountain biking trails directly accessible from residential neighborhoods, without a car. Browse ZIP codes in Idaho →

Tampa, Florida

Tampa’s metro population has surpassed 3 million, fueled by inbound migration from the Northeast and Midwest. ⁶ Florida’s no state income tax policy is a consistent draw, and Tampa in particular offers a combination of affordability, warm weather, and urban amenities that Miami cannot match on cost. The Gulf Coast lifestyle is a legitimate pull factor for remote workers who have accepted they can live anywhere — and the housing pipeline in the metro continues to grow. Browse ZIP codes in Florida →

Austin, Texas

Austin added an extraordinary 181 people per day at its peak, and while that pace has cooled, it remains one of the most-searched relocation destinations in the country. ⁸ The city’s music scene, outdoor culture, strong tech economy, and Texas’s no state income tax continue to attract workers from both coasts. Housing prices have risen significantly, but suburban markets around the metro remain accessible. Browse ZIP codes in Texas →

Cities That Will Pay You to Move There

Multiple U.S. cities now offer cash incentives to attract remote workers — specifically because those workers bring income-earning power without requiring local employers to hire them. ⁹

Tulsa, Oklahoma — The Tulsa Remote program offers up to $10,000 to qualifying remote workers who relocate, paired with a built-in community and local support infrastructure.
Topeka, Kansas — The Choose Topeka program offers up to $15,000 in relocation incentives for qualified workers, focused on affordability and financial stability.
Chattanooga, Tennessee — Has positioned itself as a remote-worker destination for years, combining financial incentives with its gigabit internet and quality-of-life investment.
West Virginia — The Ascend West Virginia program targets outdoor enthusiasts and remote workers with financial incentives plus access to Appalachian recreation infrastructure.

These programs are a direct response to the bargaining power location-independent workers now hold. Cities are competing for their tax base and their presence in local neighborhoods, restaurants, and housing markets.

What Remote Workers Are Actually Looking For

Migration data and surveys reveal a consistent set of priorities for remote workers choosing where to relocate:

Affordability relative to their income. A remote worker earning a San Francisco salary and moving to Raleigh or Boise is not just saving money — they are dramatically improving their quality of life. The same income buys a house, not a rented room.

Reliable, fast internet. This is non-negotiable. Chattanooga’s gigabit network is not a quirky footnote — it is why cities everywhere are investing in broadband infrastructure as a primary economic development tool.

Access to outdoor recreation. Cities like Boise, Asheville, Bend, and Salt Lake City consistently rank high for remote workers because they offer trails, mountains, and water culture that dense coastal metros simply cannot replicate. ⁸

Mid-sized scale. The most popular remote-worker destinations tend not to be America’s biggest cities. They are places large enough to have good restaurants, healthcare, and cultural events, but small enough to avoid the gridlock and cost of major metro living.

Proximity to an airport. Hybrid workers who need to fly to headquarters occasionally need reasonably direct routes. Cities with strong regional airports — Raleigh-Durham International, Nashville International, Boise Airport — benefit measurably from this factor.

Community. Many remote workers want to land somewhere with other people like them. Co-working spaces, young professional networks, and intentional programs like Tulsa Remote directly address this need.

The Hybrid Wrinkle

One important nuance in 2026: the fully-remote era has given way to hybrid dominance, and that is slowly pulling some workers back toward major metros. Research tracking the average distance between employees and their nearest major city found that after rising in 2022, that distance has declined every year since, with workers now living as close to city centers as they were in 2021. ¹⁰

This does not mean the relocation wave is reversing. It means it is maturing. Workers are still moving, but they are increasingly choosing mid-sized cities within driving or flying distance of employer hubs rather than truly remote locales. The Raleigh-to-Research-Triangle corridor, the Nashville-to-Huntsville stretch, and the Tampa Bay metro all fit this profile: lifestyle markets close enough to major economic centers to work within a hybrid structure.

One telling stat: in December 2025, only 40% of employees said they would quit or seek another remote job if given a return-to-office mandate — compared to 91% who said the same in January 2025. Bargaining power has shifted, and workers are making location decisions to reflect that new reality. ¹

How to Research Your Move at the ZIP Code Level

State-level data tells part of the story. Climate, cost of living, and local demographics vary enormously not just between cities but between neighborhoods within the same city. Before making any relocation decision, drill into the specific ZIP codes you are considering — not just the metro as a whole.

At ZipCodePlus, you can explore detailed data for any of the more than 41,700 ZIP codes in the United States:

Sources

Page last updated: April 2026. Migration data from HireAHelper, MoveBuddha, and U.S. Census Bureau sources. Remote work statistics from Gallup, Stanford WFH Research, and Robert Half. Always verify current conditions before making relocation decisions.

Metaintro — ‘The Urban Comeback and Why Workers Are Returning to Cities,’ citing Gallup, Stanford WFH Research, Robert Half, and CNBC data, April 2026. https://www.metaintro.com/blog/workers-trading-remote-work-urban-career-access-2026 ↩ ↩² ↩³
MovingPlace — ‘Moving Statistics 2026: Migration Patterns, Trends & Industry Data,’ April 2026. https://www.movingplace.com/moving-advice/moving-industry-statistics ↩
Extra Space Storage — ‘Moving Statistics & Trends: Key Insights for Your Next Move,’ December 2025. https://www.extraspace.com/moving/guides/trends/industry-trends-statistics/ ↩ ↩²
HireAHelper — ‘The 2026 HireAHelper Migration Report,’ January 2026. https://www.hireahelper.com/moving-statistics/migration-report/2026/ ↩
TheStreet — ‘U.S. Migration Trends: Why Americans Are Leaving Some States and Flocking to Others,’ January 2026. https://www.thestreet.com/economy/u-s-migration-trends-why-americans-are-leaving-some-states-and-flocking-to-others ↩
FastExpert — ‘Remote Work & the Migration Boom: Which Cities Are Winning?’ September 2025. https://www.fastexpert.com/blog/remote-work-and-the-migration-boom/ ↩ ↩² ↩³
University Magazine — ‘The Best Cities in America for Remote Workers in 2026,’ March 2026. https://www.universitymagazine.ca/best-cities-america-remote-workers/ ↩
123Relocation — ‘The Great Remote Work Migration: Where People Are Moving,’ November 2025. https://123relocation.com/remote-work-migration-where-americans-moving/ ↩ ↩²
National Today — ‘6 U.S. Cities That Will Pay You to Move There in 2026,’ April 2026. https://nationaltoday.com/us/ar/fayetteville/news/2026/04/12/6-u-s-cities-that-will-pay-you-to-move-there-in-2026/ ↩
The Register — ‘Remote or Not, Workers Are Drifting Back Toward the City,’ March 2026. https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/24/workers_closer_to_city/ ↩