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U.S. Cities that Americans Leave

Which metro areas in the U.S. lost the greatest number of people via domestic migration between 2010–2020?
This measures the number of Americans who moved out minus the number who moved in
Source: U.S. Census
This quiz is the opposite
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: May 5, 2021
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First submittedMay 5, 2021
Times taken14,993
Average score60.0%
Rating4.43
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Loss
Metro Area
1,665,000
New York City
872,000
Los Angeles
719,000
Chicago
238,000
Miami
195,000
Detroit
183,000
Philadelphia
157,000
Washington, D.C.
155,000
San Jose
129,000
Boston
90,500
St. Louis
Loss
Metro Area
88,800
Honolulu
86,500
San Francisco
84,500
Cleveland
81,200
San Diego
74,000
Hartford
69,700
Milwaukee
68,400
Baltimore
61,300
Virginia Beach
57,100
Bridgeport / Stamford
55,300
New Haven
+13
Level 55
May 5, 2021
Rust belt+Northern Eastern seaboard+California =18/20.
+3
Level 74
May 5, 2021
San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, Virginia Beach...?
+3
Level 90
May 5, 2021
??? I don't believe that Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Miami or Honolulu fall into either of those two categories.
+3
Level 55
May 5, 2021
Forgot to add California Whoops
+15
Level ∞
May 7, 2021
It seems to be places with high prices, high crime, or in the case of Chicago, both.
+5
Level 73
May 31, 2021
As Proxima said I'd imagine a lack of employment opportunities is probably part of it too
+3
Level 82
May 31, 2021
To quote Bill Clinton.. it's the economy, stupid. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Cost of living. Jobs. Traffic. Jobs. Jobs. Climate. Crime. in about that order.
+7
Level 61
May 31, 2021
As a Chicagoan, I disagree - our city doesn't have that much crime - I live in the South Shore in a lovely neighborhood filled with elites.
+4
Level 66
Feb 25, 2023
"Chicago's 797 homicides in 2021 highest in 25 years, most of any US city"
+5
Level 57
May 31, 2021
It certainly has a large reputation for crime, which might deter some people from moving there. And I bet a lot of it depends on the neighborhood, just like in many other major cities.
+6
Level 68
Jun 1, 2021
Ah, Chicago! Come for the architecture, stay because you got murdered there.

(I'll just say it now: this is obvioulsy a joke)

+6
Level 77
May 5, 2021
Virginia Beach surprised me a little bit
+4
Level 55
May 11, 2021
More people are Moving to NoVa now.
+2
Level 82
May 31, 2021
That was the only one that surprised me, too. I thought it was still growing.
+4
Level 71
May 31, 2021
It was Honolulu that got me personally. I thought about guessing it, but then figured it wouldn't show up because 1. amazing weather 2. seems to have a strong economy? not as sure about this, but it seems pretty well off (although I've heard the cost of living is high) and 3. moving from Hawaii to the mainland seems like a major inconvenience. Like I said though, could be wrong about 2. At any rate, it doesn't fit with the other geographical trends here.
+3
Level 51
May 31, 2021
Miami for me.
+2
Level 79
May 5, 2021
It doesn't feel like NYC lost 1.5 million. Still have huge traffic jams and over priced rents.
+2
Level 78
May 31, 2021
It didn't. New York City GAINED almost 400,000 people between 2010 and 2020 (see my figures below from the Census Bureau)... which means that if as quoted on here that one million six hundred thousand left, then over TWO million would have had to move in for the net gain.

I've been selling real estate here for 20 years, and trust me, there weren't 1.6million move outs and 2million move ins in the last decade. These figures are flat out incorrect.

+15
Level 70
May 31, 2021
it also says metro area and not the city itself.. don't brag ab yourself while showing you can't read
+3
Level 37
May 31, 2021
lmao
+6
Level 45
Jul 3, 2021
also says Americans... international immigration isn't considered in this
+3
Level 59
May 31, 2021
it doesnt count the people who were BORN, only migration
+2
Level 76
May 6, 2021
Well, I would have never gotten B/S. Didn't even know the place(s) existed.
+6
Level 92
May 6, 2021
Just another CT city area on the downswing. Like many states, CT is a study in contrasts - incredibly rich areas like Greenwich and New Canaan just down the road from decrepit cities such as Bridgeport with declining population and no salvation in sight.
+2
Level 31
May 26, 2021
Hey Can I translate this quiz in french ?
+2
Level 78
May 31, 2021
New York City's Population GAINED almost 400,000 people in that decade, which if your figure of one million plus moving out were correct, almost TWO million would have had to move in to make the net gain. Highly Unlikely - your source appears flawed.

Population of New York City 2010 - 8,175,031 US CENSUS BUREAU

Population of New York City 2019 - 8,336,817 US CENSUS BUREAU

Population of New York City 2020 - 8,550,971 US CENSUS PRELIMINARY

An increase of 380,000 people - your figures are very wrong - it over a million people LEFT NYC during that time, it would mean over TWO MILLION moved in during that time.

I sell Real Estate in NYC - nope, not even close. Where did you get these stats?

Since this quiz incorrectly implies that some cities are shrinking while in fact they are growing, why not do a quiz about which cities had "net losses" in population, meaning they actually got smaller rather than this method that only shows half of the equation?

+3
Level 53
May 31, 2021
Hint - 'Metro population'
+13
Level ∞
May 31, 2021
The "flawed" source is the U.S. Census Bureau and the source is linked. Look for yourself.

There are four components of population change which are broken down in the source:

1. Births

2. Deaths

3. Net domestic migration

4. Net international migration

I hope you can understand how the population can still grow if 1 and 4 are higher than 2 and 3. It's not rocket science.

Finally, as @NiobiumVoid said, the quiz uses metro population not city population.

Sorry you don't like the numbers but the quiz is accurate.

+2
Level 82
May 31, 2021
The last census was a fiasco.
+1
Level 75
Jan 22, 2023
Nyack - maybe lay low for a while. NYC real estate folks of a certain ilk are having a bad run lately.
+8
Level 68
May 31, 2021
basically demoncrat cities...

yet those demoncrats who flee vote for demoncrat policies afterwards..

+30
Level 76
May 31, 2021
I would say "educate yourself on the actual reasons why the migrations happen" (which have been pointed out in the comments here and in any other similar quizzes), but then a person who says "demoncrats" likely isn't keen on the concept of facts or rational thought, preferring instead bias and prejudiced opinions.
+3
Level 51
May 31, 2021
That doesn't mean that the U.S. will suffer a multi-million mass migration because Biden is President... also when when a population skyrockets, the city does face more problems naturally. And... do you think that Democrats will just abandon all their beliefs if they move, just for you?
+4
Level 76
May 31, 2021
I assume you're answering nojik and not me.
+3
Level 51
Jun 1, 2021
I mean, I'm criticizing Nojik, not you.
+2
Level 76
Jun 2, 2021
Ah ok.
+6
Level 70
May 31, 2021
Connecticut representation here is crazy. They have no top 40 metro areas yet three with the most domestic out-migration.
+2
Level 66
Feb 25, 2023
"Top stories of 2021: Hartford has deadliest year since 2003"

Looks like gang shootings & drivebys have overrun the city.

+2
Level 52
May 31, 2021
Got this completely wrong by glancing at the loss figures and assuming it was city proper population, so I was trying to think of tiny dying Midwestern places.
+1
Level 33
Jun 2, 2021
The funny thing is Texas doesn’t have a single city on there 🤣
+1
Level 55
Jun 3, 2021
Everything's bigger in Texas!
+4
Level 66
Jun 2, 2021
Pleasantly surprised not to see Pittsburgh
+1
Level 46
Jun 3, 2021
If this were from 2001-2010 then New Orleans would probably be #1 on the list because of Hurricane Katrina