It’s no secret that San Francisco experienced a major exodus during the pandemic, as many workers who had just been released from office escaped the most expensive major metro area in the country.
A new report says San Francisco has had a lot of company among major cities that had a major exodus last year – and sheds more light on the most popular out-of-state destinations for those leaving.
Property listing company Zillow released its first Mover report on Tuesday as a result of major changes that moved more homeowners and tenants to move during the pandemic. A survey by the company conducted by the Harris Poll online found that 11% of Americans have relocated in the past year – slightly higher than the 9.8% migration rate set by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2018-19 recorded.
The rise in vacancies for apartments and the fall in rental prices during the San Francisco pandemic have already been well documented – although the market has begun to recover in recent months. A recent Chronicle report, based on people who submitted the U.S. Postal Service address forms from San Francisco, showed that the top 15 destinations for delegates were provinces in California, and the top six in the Bay Area.
Zillow’s approach was different: he was working with North American Van Lines to compile the data for his report. Zillow’s spokesman Matt Kreamer said the information was more from people doing major state movements, rather than from local movements.
Kreamer said the company’s search traffic shows that Sacramento is usually the most important destination people look to from San Francisco, and vice versa, but it is unknown how much of the search volume is translated into actual sales or leases.
Zillow’s Mover Report found that Chicago had the highest net outgoing losses among the largest metro areas, followed by New York, Los Angeles and San Diego, with San Francisco rounding out the top five. (See the table here.)
The most popular destination for former San Francisco residents was Seattle. The No. 2 spot was Austin, with Portland, Phoenix and Denver rounding out the top five.
For people leaving San Jose, Austin was in first place, followed by Denver at No. 2 and Boulder, Colo, at No. 3. Charlotte, NC and Fayetteville, Ark., Were in fourth and fifth place, respectively. .
People from Los Angeles and San Diego choose Dallas-Forth Worth and Phoenix as their two best destinations. Austin and Seattle were also popular cities for former Angelenos and San Diegans.
The report found that the metropolitan area with the largest net incoming migration was Phonix, followed by Charlotte, NC, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Sarasota, Fla. (See the graph here.)
Zillow senior economist Jeff Tucker said in the Mover Report that the pandemic is accelerating trends that have already started in 2018 and 2019, especially people moving from expensive big cities to cheaper markets.
“More affordable, medium-sized metro areas across the Sun Belt have gotten significantly more people than going, especially from more expensive, larger cities further north and along the coast,” he said. “The pandemic has catalyzed the purchases of thousands of first-time buyers, many of whom can now work anywhere.”
The Zillow Mover report also found that 31% of respondents wanted to move a year or more, and 76% said emotional factors prevented them from picking up and moving. But a majority of respondents (80%) said their recent move was worth it, and more than half felt happy and relieved after moving.
The survey was conducted online from March 10 to 12, 2021 by The Harris Poll on behalf of Zillow, among 2,005 American adults aged 18 and older, among whom 244 have migrated in the past year. Zillow noted that a sampling error could not be calculated because the survey was not based on a probability sample.
The moving data consists of all intermetro movements that the North American Van Lines completed in the first 11 months of 2020. The data included the zip code of origin and destination for each move.
Kellie Hwang is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]