Americans are moving less than they used to during the pandemic, when the rise of remote work allowed tens of thousands to leave crowded, expensive metropolises for cheaper havens across state lines, but some cities are still rapidly losing residents, data shows.
The latest report from the Bank of America Institute on Americans on the move, released on Friday, found that Memphis, Tennessee, experienced the sharpest net population drop of any major U.S. metropolitan area in the second quarter of 2026, down by nearly 1 percent compared to a year earlier.
It was followed by Washington, D.C. (-0.73 percent), Los Angeles (-0.63 percent), Boston (-0.60 percent), Miami (-0.57 percent), Baltimore (-0.53 percent), Orlando (-0.49 percent), New York (-0.48 percent), San Jose (-0.44 percent), and St. Louis (-0.41 percent), a list which includes some of the most expensive cities in the country.
Affordability Is Key Reason Behind Americans’ Moves
Mobility has slowed down among Americans in the second quarter of the year, the Bank of America Institute found, with declines reported across income groups, generations and move types…