Add The New York Post on Google New York may still be the city where young people come to make it — but a growing number of Gen Zers are making their exit.
The Big Apple lost more members of Gen Z than any other US metro in 2024, posting a net outflow of 29,554 young adults, according to a new Redfin analysis of Census Bureau data.
A whopping 9,284 Gen Zers traded the New York metropolitan area for Philadelphia just 90 miles south, making it the country’s second-most-popular migration route for the generation, behind only trading Los Angeles for nearby Riverside, California.
The move comes with a considerable housing discount. The typical home in the New York metro sells for about $832,000, compared with just $309,000 in Philadelphia, according to Redfin.
That means buyers heading to Philly could theoretically purchase nearly three homes for the price of one in New York.
The migration pattern suggests young Americans aren’t necessarily cutting ties with their existing regions as they hunt for less expensive housing and better job prospects.
Instead, many are making relatively short moves that allow them to remain within reach of family, friends and professional networks.
“Younger adults are gravitating toward cities where they can launch careers and their social lives, while millennials are more focused on places where a paycheck stretches further and buying a home is attainable,” Redfin principal economist Sheharyar Bokhari said in the report.
“But young Americans aren’t fleeing expensive cities for the cheapest place they can find: Most are making relatively short moves, suggesting they want a better job or lower cost of living without giving up their existing networks.”
The most common Gen Z move was from Los Angeles to Riverside, with 10,261 people making the roughly 60-mile shift. The New York-to-Philadelphia route came next, followed by Los Angeles to San Diego, which attracted 9,237 movers.
New York also experienced the largest millennial exodus of any metro, recording a net loss of 42,698 members of the generation. Los Angeles followed with a net millennial outflow of 31,107, while Miami lost 21,373.
But Gen Zers and millennials appear to be chasing different versions of the American dream.
“Gen Zers are chasing opportunity, while millennials are chasing space,” Bokhari said.
Millennials favored metros where larger homes remain relatively attainable.
Houston led the pack with a net millennial inflow of 16,365, followed by Dallas, Baltimore, Las Vegas and Atlanta. All five metros had median home-sale prices below $450,000.
The analysis used the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. It defined adult Gen Zers as those ages 19 to 27 and millennials as those ages 28 to 43.
