The United States is a nation of active domestic migration, its citizens moving from place-to-place in search of jobs, better quality of life or housing. Census data reveals which populations have the largest portion of these migrants, be it because of the local economy, amenities, or climate and geographical features.
Six percent of the population lives in U.S. counties they didn’t live in a year prior. Census data suggests many of these recent transplants are students and military families. The places with the highest percent of recent migrants (up to of 19 percent of their population) are college towns like Ithaca, N.Y., home to Cornell University; Corvallis, Ore., where you’ll find Oregon State University; and military towns like Jacksonville, N.C., the site of the massive Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune; and Hinesville, Ga., home to Fort Stewart, a large army base.
Savannah, Ga., stands out as one of the few places with a population consisting of more than 10 percent of newcomers that is not a military or college town. A 2025 study from StorageCafe called Georgia one of the nation’s top destinations for movers, citing Chatham County, where Savannah is found, as having the most net migration in the state. Growing job opportunities and the town’s walkability are the port city’s major draws. One-third of migrants end up purchasing homes shortly after moving to the county, the study found.
Two hours away in Charleston, S.C., newcomers make up 9 percent of the population, the data shows. South Carolina is the fastest growing U.S. state and has the largest increase in net domestic migration, census data shows, driven by jobs, climate and affordability.
A wider view shows that 41 percent of U.S. residents live in states they weren’t born in. In the list of the top 10 metros with the highest share of people born out-of-state, retirement and resort towns dominated, with Florida locales occupying five of the 10 spots.
