The Cities People Are Leaving Fastest

Americans love to move. In fact, about 1 in 9 of them (or 35.7 million folks, ages one and up) changed residences between 2013 and 2014, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau released in 2015.

But where are they moving to and from? And why? Moving isn’t cheap, after all, especially when it’s to a new city or state. And doing so usually involves renting a new apartment or buying a new home, both of which often require having good credit (you can see where your credit stands by getting two of your credit scores for free, updated every 14 days, on Credit.com).

A recent analysis by Abodo, an apartment-locator website, found that the cities Americans are leaving in the highest numbers are also some of the largest. The size of these cities, however, insulates them somewhat from true net population loss because new residents are also moving in.

“The new residents’ numbers might not comprise as high a percentage of the population as other American cities, but that’s a reflection of just how populous some of these metropolitan areas are: It’s harder to make up 3% of the population in New York City than it is in, say, Cleveland,” according to the Adobo report.

Read on to see which cities saw the largest exit of residents in 2014 and 2015, according to Adobo’s report based on U.S. Census Bureau data on 50 of the biggest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S between July 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

10. Cleveland - Elyria, Ohio

Population change: – 0.51%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

9. Detroit - Warren - Dearborn, Michigan

Population change: -0.51%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

8. San Jose - Sunnyvale - Santa Clara, California

Population change: -0.52%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

7. Virginia Beach - Norfolk - Newport News, Virginia

Population change: -0.52%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

6. Los Angeles - Long Beach - Anaheim, California

Population change: -0.54%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

5. Milwaukee - Waukesha - West Allis, Wisconsin

Population change: -0.54%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

4. Memphis, Tennessee

Population change: -0.60%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

3. Hartford - West Hartford - East Hartford, Connecticut

Population change: -0.74%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

2. New York - Newark - Jersey City, New York/New Jersey

Population change: -0.82%

Previous Slide

Next Slide

1. Chicago - Naperville - Elgin, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin

Population change: -0.84%

Previous Slide

Next Slide