Financial technology company, SmartAsset, conducted a 2023 study to learn where millennials are moving to. According to recent research, one in four millennials moved to a different city in 2022. These migrations can affect local small businesses, housing markets, and social dynamics, which prompted the company to learn more.
Millenials were defined as people aged 25 to 44, in line with U.S. Census Bureau data for 268 cities. Cities were then ranked by the highest percentage of the population represented by newly-transplanted millennials.
Out of the top 10 cities that millennials moved to, Bellevue ranked seventh. According to the study, in Bellevue, Washington, newly moved-in millennials accounted for 11.3% of the population, with 17,131 making the city their new home. Bellevue’s median age was one of the highest on the list at 38.9 years.
The top three cities in the U.S. to make the list included Cambridge, Massachusetts, Santa Clara, California, and Seattle, Washington. Seattle, which ranked in third place, made up 12.5% of the city’s population, with a median age of 36 years old.
Three interesting findings from the study include; foreign millennials had high rates of moving to some of the top 10 cities like Cambridge, Bellevue, and Santa Clara. Another is that Study-wide , Arlington, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Washington DC, and Sandy Springs, Georgia, saw high rates of millennial transplants from out of state. Lastly, Port St. Lucie, Florida, Brockton, Massachusetts, and many California cities like Fontana, Santa Ana, and Thousand Oaks, saw low rates of millennial establishing residence.
Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey for 2022.