The grass is always greener on the other side, and, according to the annual estimates of population change and its causes released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the grass in Florida must also appear to be speckled with gold to the rest of the country. The Sunshine State was home to eight out of the top 10 metros with the largest changes in population between July 2014 and July 2015.
The Villages, Fla., had a net domestic migration (the difference between the number of people who moved into a metro area from elsewhere in the country and the number of people who moved out of that same metro to another part of the U.S.) of 7,150, equaling a 6.3 percent change in the overall population, which was far and away the largest change in the country. The next closest was Punta Gorda, Fla., which experienced a 3.7 percent change.
Other Florida metros that made the area include Cape Coral-Fort Myers (3.1 percent), Sebastian-Vero Beach (2.8 percent), Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach (2.3 percent), and Homosassa Springs (2.3 percent).
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.-N.C., and Bend-Redmond, Ore., were the only non-Florida metro areas that made the list. The Myrtle Beach area experienced a net domestic migration of 15,264, leading to a 3.7 percent change in the total population. Bend-Redmond saw a net domestic migration of 4,289 for a percentage change of 2.5 percent.
On the flip side, Farmington, N.M., experienced the greatest negative net domestic migration. The metro lost 6,116 residents for a -4.9 percent change in population. Hinesville, Ga., lost fewer residents, but had the same -4.9 percent change in population. North Carolina had the most metro areas on the list for where Americans are leaving with three, the only state with more than one representative on this list, which is odd, considering the state has experienced a growth in population overall.
For the complete lists of where Americans are moving to and leaving the most, follow the link below.
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