01-06-2025
Tampa Bay among most moved-out areas in America: PODS
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For the first time, Tampa Bay has been placed on a list of cities and areas with the highest number of move-outs in America.
PODS, a moving company, released its annual moving trends report. The company analyzed long-distance moving numbers between January 2024 and March 2025 to determine where people are moving to and out of.
According to the report, more people are leaving Florida than entering.
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The Tampa Bay and South Florida areas were both ranked among cities with the highest number of move-outs.
'Tampa Bay's appearance comes as a surprise since it previously ranked 4th and 9th on our move-in lists in 2022 and 2023, respectively. However, it was suspiciously absent last year, and now we see why,' the report said.
PODS' data listed Tampa Bay at No. 16 on the most move-outs list, while South Florida came in at No. 3.
'It's a somewhat surprising shift considering Tampa Bay was recently on our move-in list, but not entirely shocking with the city's significant population boom,' PODS said. 'Development has been ongoing for nearly a decade, prices have soared, traffic has multiplied, and the increasing risk from hurricanes have pushed both transplants and native residents to their limits.'
According to PODS, many people who left Florida moved to the Midwest, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and the Northeast.
Here are the top 20 cities and areas with the highest number of move-outs, according to PODS.
Los Angeles, California (1st in 2024)
Northern California (San Francisco area) (2nd in 2024)
South Florida (Miami area) (3rd in 2024)
Long Island, New York (Serving parts of NYC) (4th in 2024)
San Diego, California (8th in 2024)
Central Jersey, New Jersey (6th in 2024)
Chicago, Illinois (7th in 2024)
Boston, Massachusetts (13th in 2024)
Hudson Valley, New York (10th in 2024)
Denver, Colorado (12th in 2024)
Santa Barbara, California (11th in 2024)
Seattle, Washington (Not ranked in 2024)
Stockton-Modesto, California (9th in 2024)
Washington, DC (Not ranked in 2024)
Hartford, Connecticut (15th in 2024)
Tampa Bay, Florida (Not ranked in 2024)
Fresno, California (17th in 2024)
Austin, Texas (5th in 2024)
Bakersfield, California (18th in 2024)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Not ranked in 2024)
PODS said people are still moving to Florida, but it is no longer the hotspot of years past.
'Between 2021 and 2023, Florida consistently had at least six cities on our list of top cities people are moving to — but this year, there are only two: Ocala and Jacksonville,' the report said.
These are the top 10 cities with the highest number of move-ins, according to PODS' data:
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina/Wilmington, North Carolina (1st in 2024)
Ocala, Florida (2nd in 2024)
Raleigh, North Carolina (6th in 2024)
Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (4th in 2024)
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (Not ranked in 2024)
Charlotte, North Carolina (5th in 2024)
Boise, Idaho (11th in 2024)
Knoxville, Tennessee (8th in 2024)
Nashville, Tennessee (13th in 2024)
Jacksonville, Florida (9th in 2024)
You can find more city and area rankings on PODS' website.
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