POPULATION

Yahoo - If you’re a millennial city dweller and feel like the majority of your friends have fled to small towns and suburbs over the past few years, you’re not imagining things. This year, the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service published an analysis of 2024 census data that details the notable exodus of young-ish people from big cities to more rural areas in recent years.

By “young-ish” we mean millennial and millennial-adjacent — perhaps a couple of years into Gen X or Gen Z on either end. This age bracket is important to note because these folks aren’t moving to the countryside to retire; these are professionals and parents who are relocating to benefit their families, jobs, finances and their own mental and physical health.

The census data shows that between 1980 and 2020, nearly 80% of U.S. population growth among adults ages 25-44 was concentrated in metro areas that had a million-plus residents. Post-2020, on the other hand, most of the growth experienced in rural areas has been driven by folks in that same age bracket: 25 to 44. And while, yes, 2020 was a turning point due to COVID-related urban flight, the exodus has only continued throughout the subsequent four years — and for a wide variety of reasons, not just pandemic concerns about health and safety.