Small Towns Drew Most New Pandemic Residents

As Americans left major cities in droves in search of wide-open spaces during the pandemic, small, ‘relatively obscure’ towns saw the largest influx of new residents, according to Pew, citing US Census statistics and Stateline analysis of postal address changes.

“People were already coming here in hordes, and then it just exploded in the pandemic,” said Lynne McConnell, housing director for Bend, Oregon. “More would be coming if we had housing to accommodate them.”

Affluent workers who could do their jobs remotely had an easier time moving to far-off areas, especially places like Bend that aren’t commutable. Before the pandemic, people moved mostly for a new job, but since then moves have become more about comfort and lifestyle factors such as good neighborhoods, home ownership, climate and recreation, said Peter Haslag, an assistant finance professor at Vanderbilt University who studied pandemic moves. -Pew

Unsurprisingly, the influx of new residents – and the increase in property taxes they signed up for – has resulted in a much-needed boost to bond ratings for remote municipalities, allowing them to borrow more money for infrastructure projects to accommodate the growth, according to another Haslag study.

“It becomes relatively less expensive [for growing cities] to take on new projects,” he said. “The evidence suggests that areas that experienced significant inflow during the pandemic should experience relatively greater economic growth.” – READ MORE