From Staff Reports

Asheville is “the No. 1 move-to city in North Carolina and No. 2 in the country according to 2024 findings from moving cost estimate aggregator moveBuddha,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported on April 3.

“Asheville ranked No. 2 in the country for highest in-to-out move ratio at 3.29,” an ACT story stated. “This means that for every 329 planned moves to the area in 2024, there are only 100 current residents planning to leave the city. According to previous reporting by the Citizen Times, this marks a slight increase from 2023 data which showed a 3.01 ratio. 

“Census data backs this report, with records of 13.4 percent population growth in Asheville between 2010 and 2020. Most recent census data showed that the population as of July 1, 2022, was roughly 93,776. 

“The moveBuddha report also showed that the average home value in Asheville was around $453,000, relatively high compared to other top-ranking in-to-out cities,” the ACT noted, adding that the “findings were pulled from an analysis of over 50,000 searches made from July 2023 through March 15, 2024, for moves planned in 2024 using moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator.”

The top 10 U.S. cities for in-to-out migration ratios are: 

(1) The Villages, Florida – 4.38.

(2) Asheville, North Carolina – 3.29.

(3) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – 3.22.

(4) Billings, Montana – 2.41.

(5) Decatur, Georgia – 2.39.

(6) Chattanooga, Tennessee – 2.21.

(7) Conroe, Texas – 2.14.

(8) Cheyenne, Wyoming – 2.13.

(9) Burlington, Vermont – 2.11.

(10) Boulder, Colorado – 2.10.