Though job relocation isn’t the top reason for moving—lagging behind housing and family-related moves—it has a significant influence on local economies and housing markets. When workers move to new regions, they bring with them economic growth potential, increase housing demand, and can even reshape regional development trends. This report examines job movement patterns across states, pinpointing the areas most favored by job switchers.
Where Are Workers Moving?
Data on job-to-job transitions highlights that states like Virginia, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee are seeing an influx of workers. These states offer thriving job markets, lower living expenses, and attractive business climates, drawing in job movers. In contrast, high-cost states like California and New York are experiencing a net loss of workers, as many look for more affordable places to live without sacrificing career growth.
States Experiencing the Largest Job Migration Gains: Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee
States in the Southeast and Southwest are leading the nation in job migration gains, fueled by rapid job growth, business-friendly environments, and lower costs of living. Virginia tops the list with a net gain of 7,191 job switchers in Q3 2023, mostly from nearby states like Maryland (18%) and Washington, D.C. (12%).
Texas is close behind, with a net increase of 7,036 job movers, largely from California (12%). Texas draws workers with its booming industries, zero state income tax, and affordable living costs compared to places like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Tennessee also ranks highly, attracting workers from states like Georgia (12%) and Florida (10%) thanks to strong job markets in sectors like healthcare and logistics.
Job Migration and Inbound Moves
While net migration data helps track overall job movement, it doesn’t provide a complete picture, especially for states with varying populations. To address this, the share of inbound job moves was calculated, showing the proportion of people moving into a state relative to all job movers. Smaller states like South Carolina, Montana, and Idaho ranked higher in inbound moves compared to larger states like Texas, indicating their greater appeal to job movers on a per-capita basis.
Top States With the Highest Inbound Job Rates: South Carolina, Maine, and Montana South Carolina leads the way, with 57% of job movers arriving from other states, mainly neighboring Georgia (21%) and Florida (11%). Maine and Montana follow closely, with strong job growth and lower living costs making these states attractive to both companies and professionals.
States Losing the Most Workers
California and Louisiana are among the states with the highest worker outflows. California’s high cost of living and taxes are driving professionals to more affordable states like Texas and Arizona, while Louisiana struggles to regain jobs lost during the pandemic, leading workers to migrate to faster-growing states like Texas and Georgia.
The Impact on Real Estate Markets
The migration of workers to states like Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina is creating higher demand for housing, pushing home prices up. For example, home prices in Richmond, VA, have increased by nearly 13% over the past year. As housing demand grows, construction also ramps up. Both Texas and South Carolina are seeing a notable rise in single-family home construction permits to meet the needs of the growing population.
Job migration also affects commercial real estate as companies expand to accommodate an increasing workforce. Areas that are attracting large numbers of job movers, like Austin, Houston, and Greenville, are seeing heightened demand for office space, with office absorption rates moving from negative to positive in 2024. For example, office demand in Austin has surged, with an additional one million square feet of office space occupied in the past year.
Conclusion
Worker migration plays a crucial role in shaping both housing and commercial real estate markets. By tracking these job movement patterns, we can gain insights into future real estate demand. The National Association of REALTORS® will continue to monitor these trends and update its reports quarterly.
Methodology This analysis uses quarterly data on job-to-job transitions from the U.S. Census Bureau's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics. The latest data is from Q3 2023, excluding information from Alaska, Michigan, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The data reflects workers moving between states to start new jobs.
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