“Where should I live?” This is a question you may find yourself asking numerous times throughout your life. As your circumstances change, different factors may emerge. For example, you may care more about living in a reputable school district once you have family than you did when you were in college. But for most of us, the following factors will always be relevant: cost of living and livability.
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So where should you live in 2025? You may start answering this question by finding out which cities are picking up steam, and which are cooling off in popularity. By analyzing its net long-distance moving numbers between January 2024 and March 2025, and comparing those to previous years, the moving and storage company PODs determined which U.S. metro areas that are gaining the most residents — and which cities are seeing the most people move out.
GOBankingRates sourced cost-of-living information, median household income averages and livability using data from PayScale and RentCafe, the U.S. Census Bureau and AreaVibes, respectively.
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The Cities Americans Are Moving To the Most
6. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
Cost of living in Dallas, as compared to the national average: 2% higher
Cost of living in Fort Worth, as compared to the national average: 4% lower
Median household income in Dallas: $67,760
Median household income in Fort Worth: $76,602
Livability score in Dallas: 81/100
Livability score in Fort Worth: 80/100
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5. Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina
Cost of living in Greenville, as compared to the national average: 7% lower
Cost of living in Spartanburg, as compared to the national average: 9% lower
Median household income in Greenville: $74,624
Median household income in Spartanburg: $64,195
Livability score in Greenville: 82/100
Livability score in Spartanburg: 75/100
4. Raleigh, North Carolina
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 2% lower
Median household income: $82,424
Livability score: 84/100
3. Ocala, Florida
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 14% higher
Median household income: $53,520
Livability score: 71/100
2. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 7% lower
Median household income: $53,679
Livability score: 67/100
1. Wilmington, North Carolina
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 4% lower
Median household income: $63,900
Livability score: 70/100
The Cities Americans Are Moving Out of the Most
6. Miami, Florida
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 19% higher
Median household income: $59,390
Livability score: 79/100
5. Long Island, New York
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: N/A
Median household income: $128,329
Livability score: 76/100
4. San Diego, California
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 44% higher
Median household income: $104,321
Livability score: 77/100
3. New Jersey (Central)
Cost of living, as compared to the national average (Jersey City): 25% higher
Median household income (in Jersey City): $94,813
Livability score (Jersey City): 82/100
2. San Francisco, California
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 70% higher
Median household income: $141,446
Livability score: 79/100
1. Los Angeles, California
Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 50% higher
Median household income: $87,760
Livability score: 70/100
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Americans Are Moving To — and Out of — These 12 Cities
