19.1% of house hunters are now looking to move out of their metro entirely — the highest share Redfin has recorded since it started tracking relocation searches in 2021. That's nearly 1 in 5 people shopping for a home who've already decided their current city isn't it.
Two cities anchor the story. Orlando, FL gained more net movers than any other U.S. metro in Q1 2026 — a net inflow of 6,914 Redfin users. New York, NY lost more than anywhere else: a net outflow of 28,351.
The honest caveat, first
This is search data, not moving-truck data. Redfin's migration numbers measure how many people searching homes on Redfin.com in one metro are viewing listings in another — it's relocation intent, not confirmed moves. It doesn't tell you why someone's looking (taxes, job, weather, family), and a search isn't a signed lease. Treat this as a real, measurable signal of where interest is shifting, not a claim about how many U-Hauls actually crossed state lines.
The state-level version is even more lopsided
Florida was the #1 net-gaining state, pulling in 46,664 net movers — more than the next three most popular destination states combined. California was the #1 net-losing state, down 54,767 — twice the outflow of New York, the second-place loser.
Put another way: the two states doing the most net-losing (California and New York) are two of the three most expensive states to live in. The state doing the most net-gaining (Florida) has no state income tax at all.
The underlying pattern — people leaving expensive, high-tax coastal metros for lower-cost, no-or-low-income-tax metros — shows up across multiple corridors, not just New York to Orlando.
Real median home prices ($794k vs $549k), the income tax math, insurance caveats, and neighborhood finder for your specific budget.
New York to Orlando: full cost guide →What the New York → Orlando numbers actually look like
New York's median home price is $794,224. Orlando's is $549,848 — about $244,000 less. New York's state income tax tops out at 10.9% (NYC residents add up to another 3.876% city tax). Florida's is zero.
That gap is the financial engine behind the migration numbers above. It's not the only reason people move, but for a metro-to-metro pair this lopsided in cost, it doesn't need to be a mystery.
This isn't just a Florida story
Florida drove the biggest state-level number, but the underlying pattern — people leaving expensive, high-tax coastal metros for lower-cost, no-or-low-income-tax metros — shows up across multiple corridors, not just New York to Orlando. It's the same logic behind Seattle → Phoenix, LA → Las Vegas, and LA → Phoenix, all of which have real, sourced corridor guides on this site.
Source: Redfin, "19% of House Hunters Are Looking to Relocate," Q1 2026 migration report (redfin.com/news/migration-q1-2026/), published June 29, 2026. Corridor pricing from NeighborSeek market data, mid-2026. Income tax rates from NY State Department of Taxation and Finance and Florida Department of Revenue.