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A LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that almost 11 million Gen Z adults — roughly one-in-four members of that generation — moved across state lines in 2024, a far higher share than any other age group. The firm estimated that 10.7 million of the nation’s 44.6 million Gen Z adults, or 23.9%, changed states or moved to the District of Columbia last year.
By comparison, LendingTree’s review of the same Census data put the share of interstate movers at 14% for Millennials, 7.2% for Gen X and 5.2% for Baby Boomers.
Winners and losers
South Carolina posted the largest net gain of Gen Z adults in 2024, adding an estimated 22,843 young residents, LendingTree found. Missouri followed with a net gain of 14,063. The analysis said four other states and the District of Columbia also recorded net gains of at least 10,000 Gen Z adults, though LendingTree’s summary supplied the names of only the top two.
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On the other side of the ledger, California experienced the largest net loss of Gen Z adults, with an outflow of roughly 58,109 people in 2024. LendingTree estimated that about 19,287 of those who left California relocated to Texas. New Jersey lost an estimated 37,556 Gen Z residents and Illinois 20,031, according to the report.
Why young adults are moving
Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told FOX Business that the volume of Gen Z interstate moves “is an awful lot of people and it’s by far the biggest percentage of any other generation.” He said the pattern is partially explained by life-stage factors: many Gen Z adults are leaving home for college, beginning new jobs or otherwise are more mobile and able to “pick and choose when they move” than older generations.
Schulz also said there was no single common thread tying the states that gained the most Gen Z residents. “States as disparate as Texas and Washington and New York had among the biggest net gains,” he told FOX Business, noting that regional dynamics — for example, movement around the Charlotte area between North and South Carolina, or flows between New York and New Jersey — accounted for a sizable share of state-to-state shifts.
Affordability appears to have been a factor in many moves, though the pattern is not uniform. “Generally speaking, states with the biggest net losses are among the more expensive states — California, Massachusetts, places like that,” Schulz said, adding that there are exceptions such as Louisiana. He said affordability “was driving at least part of this” because housing costs, job availability and other economic differences between states can be decisive for people seeking to stretch limited budgets.
Schulz emphasized that cost is only one of many considerations for would-be movers. He told FOX Business that people should weigh support systems, family ties, property taxes, employment opportunities, cultural options and climate before changing states. “The last thing you want to do is end up having to U‑turn backwards because you made the wrong call,” he said, urging prospective movers to “really crunch the numbers and figure out what’s a priority to you.”
The findings and quotes above are drawn from LendingTree’s analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau data and comments by LendingTree’s Matt Schulz to FOX Business on the 2024 migration patterns of Gen Z adults.
