Affordability has overtaken career opportunity as the top reason Americans are relocating, with 58% of movers citing cost of living as their primary motivator compared to just 28% who cited a new job, according to PODS’ 2026 Moving Trends Report, published May 27.
PODS, the moving and storage company, built the report by analyzing net long-distance moves booked with the company between January 2025 and March 2026. Affordability is now the primary driver behind where people choose to live, PODS Chief Operating Officer James Shively said in the company’s official announcement, adding that movers are increasingly choosing Sun Belt states perceived to offer a more sustainable cost of living without sacrificing job opportunities, community, or quality of life.
Key Points
- 58% of movers ranked affordability as their top reason for relocating; 41% cited community and connection as a close secondary factor.
- The Myrtle Beach, SC–Wilmington, NC corridor and Ocala, Florida ranked as the top two move-in destinations, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh, and Greenville-Spartanburg, per Newsweek’s analysis of the report.
- Florida and Tennessee each placed four cities in the top 20 move-in destinations nationally.
- The Sun Belt accounted for 80% of the top destination cities, up from 75% the previous year.
- Los Angeles topped the list of move-out cities for the fifth consecutive year, followed by the Miami area, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Long Island, New York.
The Myrtle Beach-Wilmington corridor’s rise to the top spot lines up with a broader coastal Carolina pull that’s shown up in migration data for several years running, but the size of the affordability gap is what stands out this cycle. A 58-to-28 split means more than twice as many people are now moving primarily to save money as are moving for a new job, a reversal from the labor-market-driven relocation patterns that dominated headlines coming out of the pandemic years.
California’s continued dominance atop the move-out rankings tells a related story. The state led the nation with seven cities appearing in the top 20 move-out markets, according to Newsweek’s review of the data, reinforcing a years-long pattern of residents leaving high-cost West Coast metros for cheaper Sun Belt alternatives. Washington, D.C. and Long Island, New York rounding out the move-out top five suggests the affordability squeeze isn’t confined to one coast.
PODS is one of several movers and relocation companies that publish annual data on where their customers are headed, and its numbers track directionally with Census Bureau domestic migration estimates showing continued net outflows from expensive coastal metros toward lower-cost Southern and Sun Belt markets. For households weighing a move, the report suggests the calculation has shifted: the question increasingly isn’t which city offers the better job, but which one leaves more of the paycheck intact after rent or a mortgage payment.
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