The pandemic-era migration boom is giving way to a more localized pattern of population growth, with metro-level trends increasingly diverging from statewide migration patterns, according to a new report from Placer.ai.
Interstate migration remained subdued in 2025, with no state gaining or losing more than 0.7% of its population through domestic moves. But beneath those modest statewide shifts, several metropolitan areas continued attracting residents even as broader state-level growth slowed.
Among all states, smaller markets continued to lead migration growth. South Carolina and Delaware posted the nation's largest net domestic inflows, each attracting new residents equal to 0.7% of their populations, followed by Idaho (0.6%), Maine (0.5%), Tennessee (0.4%) and North Carolina (0.3%). Vermont recorded the nation's largest net population loss, shedding 0.4% of its population after emerging as a pandemic-era relocation hotspot just a few years earlier.
The picture looked different among the nation's largest states. Of the six most populous states, Florida was the only one to accelerate domestic migration in 2025, with net inflows rising to 0.2% of its population. Texas' migration gains flattened, while California, Illinois and New York continued to lose residents, though at a slower pace than during the pandemic.
Phoenix ranked as the nation's fastest-growing large metro for domestic migration in 2025, followed by Dallas, which continued its rebound even as Texas' statewide migration cooled. Houston moved in the opposite direction, slipping into net outmigration, while Chicago reached migration neutrality after posting losses in each of the previous two years. Los Angeles and the New York metro area also continued to narrow their migration deficits. Miami, however, recorded the largest outflow among major metros despite Florida's statewide gains.
Florida nevertheless remained the dominant growth story at the metro level, accounting for six of the nation's eight fastest-growing metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 500,000. Much of that growth, however, is now coming from within the state itself. Nearly half of the net migration into Florida's fastest-growing metros originated elsewhere in Florida, led by residents relocating from Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Naples.
Affordability remains one of the strongest forces shaping those moves. Seven of the eight fastest-growing large metros offered lower typical home values than the markets supplying the largest share of new residents, reinforcing the continued appeal of attainable housing. But Placer.ai found demographics may be becoming just as important. The metros attracting the strongest migration gains tended to have older populations and larger shares of residents age 65 and older, suggesting retiree migration is playing an increasingly important role in shaping where Americans relocate.
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