Affordability Driving Housing Trends Along Political Lines

In America's largest urban counties, typically politically blue, housing is becoming less available and less affordable. Rising housing costs have pushed people from blue cities into purple suburbs; nationally, the average home in red counties cost roughly 62 percent less than their blue counterparts, and red households spend an average of 5 percent less of their income on rent.

Redfin's chief economist Nela Richardson views this change as a "sign of hope for a less divided country, where people with differing views gain better understanding and tolerance of each other through sheer proximity." This trend is most noticeable in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado where between 10.3 and more than 12.7 percent of people move out than in.

In the first half of 2017, more people moved from blue (Democratic) counties to red (Republican) counties than from red to blue counties, according to data on Redfin.com user searches. Counties were classified as “blue” if the Democratic candidate for 2016 won by more than 20 percentage points and vice versa for “red” counties. Overall, 7.4 percent more people moved out of blue counties than to them. Compare that with red counties, which saw about 1 percent more people moving in than moving out.

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