2024’s Move-to Hotspots with the Most Millennials

Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, began their working lives around the time of the 2007 recession. They inherited an economy marked by high unemployment, enduring overall lower wages that have influenced their lifetime earning power ever since, likely the driving force behind millennials welcoming fewer children and owning homes at lower rates than the generations that preceded them.

While battling economic headwinds, millennials embraced concepts like community and technology. That confluence of factors may be responsible for Millennial “trends” like bike sharing over long, suburban commutes.

Where millennials are choosing to live as they enter their 40s is likely an extension of how these fashions, ideals, and economic realities shaped their earlier adult lives.

We examined which U.S. urban areas with higher-than-average millennial populations Americans want to move to the most in 2024. Some of millennials’ favorite cities (Austin and Denver) have lost their allure in the past year, while other Millennial-packed cities, like Spartanburg, SC, and Spring Hill, TN, are earning higher interest from relocating Americans.

These are the millennial hotspots that Americans are flocking to in 2024.

Big Takeaways

• Americans love moving to these hotspots with the most millennials: #1 Asheville, NC (2.05 in-to-out move ratio), with #2 Spartanburg, SC (1.83) and #3 Lafayette, LA (1.79) next in line.
• With 24.37% millennials, Spring Hill, TN tops the list for millennial density among the 10 most popular move-to hotspots, boasting a strong in-to-out ratio of 1.64.
• South Carolina’s hot for new moves to its millennial hotspots. Spartanburg, SC, Charleston, SC, and Rock Hill, SC, all sport above-average millennial populations and some of the highest in-to-out ratios (1.83, 1.67, and 1.55, respectively).
• High costs haven’t dulled the shine of millennial cities like Bend, OR, still highly coveted with an in-to-out move ratio of 1.75, despite an average home value of $736,188.
• Locations like Charleston, SC, with an above-average millennial presence, have a well-established tech scene, balancing professional opportunities with a lifestyle attractive to younger residents, particularly those in their late 20s to early 30s.
• Once coveted millennial hotspots, Austin, Denver, and Seattle — are losing popularity. They’re also all rising in price: all three have home prices above the national average.

Millennial Magnets Where More People Are Looking to Move the Most

moveBuddha’s search data provides a unique metric that’s tailor-made to gauge strong attraction to an area: the number of people looking to move in versus those looking to move out.

This in-to-out ratio shows, regardless of the sheer number of moves, what places are keeping more existing residents while simultaneously appealing to newcomers. In this case, we identified the urban areas with higher-than-average millennial populations with the strongest in-to-out move interest in 2024.

We found that, while general moving trends favoring the Southeast are strong, there are plenty of hotspots off the beaten track that more millennials have been calling home — and that are heating up in 2024.

Here are the 10 cities with the highest in-to-out move ratio of the top move-to cities with higher-than-average Millennial populations:

1. Asheville, NC (2.05)
2. Spartanburg, SC (1.83)
3. Lafayette, LA (1.79)
4. Bend, OR (1.75)
5. Charleston, SC (1.67)
6. Savannah, GA (1.67)
7. Spring Hill, TN (1.64)
8. Cheyenne, WY (1.63)
9. Rock Hill, SC (1.55)
10. Kissimmee, FL (1.48)

Asheville, NC, is the Most Popular Millennial Magnet City

Only 10 days of our search data includes a post-Helene Asheville, NC.

Until the hurricane hit, Asheville had been enduring another kind of onslaught: high popularity from in-movers who were looking to the city as a potential new home. With an in-move ratio of 2.08, it’s the only American city with above-average millennial residents and with more than double the number of in-moves compared to those moving away.

Though its move searches have likely slowed for the moment, Asheville may continue to outpace other millennial magnets. Named LinkedIn’s 7th fastest-growing tech hub in 2022, Asheville is buoyed by a strong economy, with multiple startups, as well as an enthusiastic remote work community.

Spring Hill, TN, is the “Most Millennial” Top 10 City

With 24.37% millennials, Spring Hill is both very millennial and a popular move-to hotspot.

The largest General Motors plant in the U.S. and corporate headquarters has spurred plenty of corporate relocations to Spring Hill. There’s also been space to develop new homes in this outpost 30 minutes south of Nashville.

While 2,900 new homes in a new walkable development promise to help keep housing costs in check as demand increases, the average home price of $504,554 means that Spring Hill is already showing signs it’s one of the hottest tickets around (it’s almost 60% higher than the state’s average).

South Carolina is the State with the Most Overall Appeal

South Carolina is a relocation favorite across the country, and its 3 top millennial hubs are wooing new residents with something for everyone.

#2 Spartanburg is a college town with 3 institutions of higher learning and a BMW manufacturing presence that keeps manufacturing and automotive job growth strong in this city where 1.83 people are looking to move in for every resident interested in leaving. It also boasts the lowest average home price in the top ten ($220,712).

#5 Charleston is an increasingly tech-savvy startup spot to watch, having spawned companies like Blackbaud and Benefitfocus. It could be this tech and entrepreneurial focus that makes it the most millennial of South Carolina’s three most popular hotspots. Both ideas are associated with the generation —  67% of millennials want to start their own business.

Less than 30 minutes away, #9 Rock Hill offers a historic downtown and a quieter pace, still in reach of Charleton’s urban offerings (with an average home price of $325,945, 42% less than its northern neighbor).

Though these cities come in different sizes and suit different pocketbooks, all three balance job opportunities with strong local amenities.

The Most and Least Affordable: Lafayette, LA and Bend, OR

While top inbound cities are associated with lower home prices, there’s plenty of diversity among the top ten. Take the most and least affordable popular cities, Lafayette, LA and Bend, OR.

Bend, OR, comes with the least affordable housing costs in the top destinations. Newcomers will pay, on average, $736,188 for their slice of heaven in the high desert. That might feel outlandish compared to the $213,287 new residents pay in the top ten’s most affordable city, Lafayette, LA. And it is — the difference in housing cost (more than $522K) could pay for an average home in all but 2 of these top ten cities.

However, that hasn’t kept Bend from being popular with new moves, with 1.75 new residents looking for an incoming move as opposed to those heading out. When they get there, they’ll find 22.3% millennial residents, and an oversized number of remote workers (15% of the total workforce) with jobs outside this once a small lumber town.

Those looking for affordability and a town with a high millennial presence get much more home for their money in Lafayette, LA. With about 230K residents, Lafayette is about twice the size of Bend and includes one of the state’s largest university campuses, making for a colorful arts, food, and music scene in this Cajun cultural hub where greater numbers of millennials settle down.

The Cities with the Most Millennials Aren’t as Popular to Move to Anymore

Many of the most searched cities for relocation with the highest percentages of millennials are seeing a downturn in popularity:

Three of these top ten “most millennial cities,” all with millennial populations over 23% have negative move ratios, with more residents moving out than are moving in.

Livermore, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Anchorage, AK, (with move ratios of .60, .85, and .93, respectively) show that high numbers of millennials can’t shield the West Coast from overall move disinterest. All three have housing costs greater than the national average. In Anchorage, an average home will set back new residents $373,799, but in both California cities, the average tops $1 million.

While millennials, as a whole, have a financial disadvantage in cities with high housing costs, the number of millennials in town isn’t what’s impacting these cities’ desirability so much as their sky-high housing. Of the 20 millennial-heavy cities with a negative move ratio, the average home price is $593,457 (in the top 20 move-to cities, the average home price is $395,009).

Austin, Denver, and Seattle’s Young Millennials See Fewer Newcomers

Of the cities with the highest percentage of Millennials, only two stand out as move-to hotspots.

Other formerly top moving choices are falling out of favor. For example, in Austin, TX, where millennials still make up almost 2% more of the population than the 2nd-most millennial city overall, the move ratio of 1.03 suggests almost equal interest in moving out of the tech hub as there is interest in moving in.

Denver’s 25%+ millennial population has also seen move interest wane over recent years. Today’s move ratio of 1.05 is a far cry from its designation as one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, a trend identified as recently as the 2021-2022 census update.

Both cities, along with #3 Seattle, have been popular with younger millennials. Austin, for example, sees 9.52% of its population in the 30-34 age range, with 9.24% of Denver residents in the same range.

The trend shows waning interest in outdoor hubs in the West, especially for younger millennials, who may be especially price-sensitive.

Americans are More Likely in 2024 to Move to More Affordable Millennial Magnet Cities

Cities with the most millennials are changing.

That’s likely thanks to younger millennials and national trends where move interest is associated with lower average home prices, like in Spartanburg, SC, or Lafayette, LA. Our move trends point to in-moves for all generations (not just millennials) into these millennial hotspots.

Younger millennials, in particular, can benefit from checking out the list and considering the cities that are hot right now, since they already host many millennials — including those who are just a few rungs onto the career ladder at an age when they may want to add extra bedrooms to their house hunts.

The bargains may not last long, as these top cities all work to accommodate new movers, retaining all the job and cultural benefits of a millennial magnet city, but also their affordability.

Methodology

We analyzed 210,788 moveBuddha queries (Jan 1–Oct 8, 2024) to find the most searched cities for relocation: those with at least 50 searches for moves both in and out.

We then identified the 67 urban areas with above-average millennial populations (+21.71%), of which 21 have high in-to-out move ratios — showing us which millennial hotspots more people are searching to move in than out in 2024.

To account for millennial populations in a given area, we examined population estimates for residents aged 30-44 in the 2023 American Community Survey, which we also used to compare percentages of younger (30 to 34-year-old) vs. older (40 to 44-year-old) millennials to see if there were differences among millennials alongside overall generational differences in millennial magnets.

Searches for future moves can offer a predictive glimpse at likely future moves, as they are more up-to-date than census figures. Of course, unforeseen social issues could mean that in some months and years, searches are less likely to reflect alignment with actual move patterns than others. For instance, in this analysis, searches from all of 2024 don’t reflect the recent natural disaster in #1 city Asheville — Asheville is likely to see actual moves dampened compared to its search popularity early in the year.

Further, the “how” and “why” of moves to millennial hotspots can’t be answered with quantitative search data. Data correlations suggest patterns (pointing to reasons like move cost, for example). However, human behavior is complex, and while data points to some likely causations that beg future research, there are always exceptions to rules and real movers behind individual move searches.

Data on average home prices was taken from the Zillow Home Value Index (Sept 2024).