Pandemic Migration Patterns: Greater Portland Top Choice for Bay Area Residents

That claim that people are fleeing all urban areas in droves? Not true, according to available data. But more people ARE leaving the country's most expensive cities, San Francisco and New York. Where are they going? Not rural areas, but smaller metros, including Greater Portland. 

A recent Bloomberg article examines multiple data sources to better understand where people are moving. It found that there is little support for the claimes that people are fleeing cities on a large scale. In fact, available data shows that fewer people moved between March and June. 

However, America's largest, densest, most expensive coastal cities — namely, San Francisco and Manhattan — did see an uptick in people moving out. " Among those requesting long-distance moves through United Van Lines, the company found that the top destinations for people leaving these cities were other large metropolitan areas." 

Greater Portland was a top choice for those looking to move out of the Bay Area, continuing the longtime trend of Silicon Valley businesses opening up shop in the Portland area in search of lower business costs. 

Read the full Bloomberg article here.