Alabama In The Top 5 For Where Americans Moved In 2025
Gulf Shores News Staff • March 11, 2026
Alabama Is A Top 5 Location For Americans To Move Into
Nearly 15 million Americans moved in 2025, with many relocating across state lines in search of lower costs, job opportunities, and warmer climates. In a job environment where people can work remotely this trend still has expected growth in 2026. So where did people move to in 2025?
This map shows net migration per 10,000 residents across all 50 states in 2025, revealing where population inflows were strongest and which states saw the biggest outflows. The data comes from HireAHelper.
Southern and Mountain West states dominated the rankings for inbound migration, while several high-cost coastal states continued to lose residents.
Alabama had tremendous gains and was ranked 5th in the nation for incoming residents. The biggest population losers were Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and California.
Baldwin County residents are well aware of the recent growth. With the low cost of living and the proximity to the beaches, Baldwin's population has become one of the fastest growing in Alabama.
California, which saw a net migration loss of -25.1, as nearly 100,000 residents left behind the increasingly unaffordable state in favor of cheaper neighboring states like Nevada, which lacks a state income tax.
California's loss is the Sunbelt's gain. Long one of the more economically depressed regions of the country, a combination of lower costs of living and nicer weather has led to rapid growth for southern “Sun Belt” states such as Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma, to say nothing of massive favorites like Texas and the Sunshine State of Florida.
Madison County and Baldwin County drove much of the state growth, accounting for over a third of the state's new residents.
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