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- Some Americans are moving to the Midwest, lured in by lower costs and affordable housing.
- Many of these new residents are single Gen Zers, millennials, and students.
- New residents tend to earn more than the Midwest's median income and could reshape social norms.
Over the last few years, Americans have been reshuffling themselves across the country. For some, that's meant flocking to the Midwest, and its promises of cheaper living, more space, and friendly neighbors.
While the initial pandemic bump in Midwest residents has slowed a little, its population level is still above pre-pandemic highs. After all, if you're looking for an affordable cost of living — or hoping to snag your first home — the Midwest might just be the place to be.
So who is moving to the Midwest? It looks like a good amount of college-aged Americans are moving in, and so are millennials — showing that there are, indeed, some new kids in town.
Gen Zers, the oldest of whom are 27, make up the greatest percentage of movers, followed by millennials, topping out at age 43.
Some of those Gen Zers and millennials — and Gen Xers, who aren't flocking to the Midwest at the same rate, but still made up a respectable slice of movers — look like they're bringing kids, too. Just over 11% of movers are part of Gen Alpha. Even so, movers still skew toward prime-age young workers and students.
Just over half of movers haven't completed a bachelor's degree, with 27% holding a high school degree but less than a bachelor's — suggesting, again, that the Midwest is seeing an influx of students.
Indeed, 18% of movers were neither renters nor homeowners, implying that they were probably living in dorms. But, overwhelmingly, new Midwesterners were renting: 53% are renters, compared to the about 29% who own homes.
Those new Midwest renters are paying, on average, around $1,416 for rent. That's below the country's median asking rent, as calculated by Redfin, of $1,967.
Among Midwestern movers who are homeowners, homes are worth — on average — around $327,884. Per the Census Bureau, the median sale price of a home sold in the US was $417,700 as of the fourth quarter of 2023 — again showing that the Midwest might be more cost-effective for younger movers trying to either save on rent or finally afford a down payment.
In addition, post-2020 transplants are reshaping what dating and socializing look like; that's meant an attitude focused on long-term, meaningful partnerships, but also some class divides among the new movers. Movers over 15 earn, on average, around $43,000 a year, while those 25 and older earn just under $53,360. As of 2022, the median personal income in the Midwest census region was $40,850, according to the Census Bureau. And those higher-earning movers do seem ready to mingle, with nearly 47% single.
Many movers are coming in from California, Florida, and Texas. Coloradans are also making their way to the Midwest, as are Kentuckians. On the East Coast, movers are especially coming in from New York, with a more modest influx making the move from Massachusetts.
Americans in those areas are dealing with their own cost crunches, making the Midwest, again, an appealing destination. As Business Insider previously reported, Texans — who have seen their own influx of new movers in search of cheaper housing and a lower cost of living — were searching for homes in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
James McClure, a product manager and native Texan, moved with his wife from Texas to Wisconsin in December 2023, as Business Insider's Alcynna Lloyd reported. McClure is technically taking a pay cut to make the move, but he told Lloyd that he's saving more money.
"We live within blocks of most of the things we need, and we have plenty of space for both of us to work from home," McClure told Lloyd. "All of this comes at the same appraised value — actually a little bit less — than our 1970s-era house in the suburbs of Austin."
Did you move to the Midwest, or elsewhere in the country to save money or shake things up? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.
Correction: February 27, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated James McClure's move. He is a native Texan who moved to Wisconsin.