this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2026
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[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 5 points 1 day ago

what idiot is moving to hawaii?

gotta be rich fucks, makes me mad

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

use this map the next time someone tries to tell you that you're wrong when you say gen-z is filled with MAGA brain rot.

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

If 15,000 people from each state moved to Wyoming, we could take over the entire state in a couple years.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

and what would happen to the states they came from?

oh yeah...they'd probably become red state shitholes.

[–] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Or there are well educated Gen Z people from blue states who are moving to where to CoL is lower because the economy and job market have been royally fucked by the generations before them?

Or maybe, and far more likely, both are true among other reasons.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

why would anybody move to shithole states like Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Arizona?

these are not just Republican strongholds, but have increased COL when compared to states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine.

[–] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

State-level figures are reliable for taxes, school systems and healthcare provision, because those really are set at state level. They are unreliable for housing. A statewide median rent averages a major metropolitan area with rural counties and accurately describes neither of them: the gap between the cheapest and priciest metro inside one large state routinely exceeds the gap between two average states.

[–] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Cost of housing ≠ cost of living.

Also, hmmm.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Cost of housing ≠ cost of living.

yet you posted housing costs as a source for COL.

are you using AI or something to argue your point?

[–] Vegan_Joe@anarchist.nexus 120 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (8 children)

If Gen Z has 50 million people, then this map shows that they are not moving.

23K is only 0.046% of 50 million.

All together, only half of a single percent have moved, according to this graph.

Seems like everybody's staying put, and this map means nothing.

It's net movement, not gross. There's raw data that shows all 53 x 53 of how those born in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and overseas live in the 50 states + DC + PR + non-US. I can't do the analysis easily from my phone, but you can break it out to what percentage of Americans live in a different state of birth. There's probably raw data that can show the Gen Z specific stats, too.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 46 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well, these are net changes. If some amount of people moves from New York to California and the same amount moves the other direction, it doesn't show up.

Which means the map means even more nothing.

[–] Vegan_Joe@anarchist.nexus 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

True. Which begs the question, what is this map for?

I always assume some political angle on posts like these.

I know I am assuming malice when incompetence may be the better answer, but my uninformed speculation leads me to think the mismanaged numbers are trying to send a message.

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well, the map says it's from realtor.com so the purpose might just be to try to understand and anticipate market trends. It might have relevance to an investor even if it doesn't tell us much about society or Gen Z. I could see someone spreading it to make it look like people find conservative areas more appealing, but I wouldn't accuse OP of that without more basis.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I would assume that there are two primary factors at work: cost of living, and economic opportunity. California may be an economic powerhouse, but if you can buy a suburban house in SC for a fraction of its CA equivalent, then that would be a factor. If you're living in Maine, even if houses are cheap, you might want to go somewhere where more things are happening. It's not necessarily a matter of people wanting to live in more conservative areas; if conservative policies demolished the local economy and ruined home values, that would mean more cheap real estate that people can afford, regardless of how they feel about the politics of the area.

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I’d like to see per capita numbers.

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 24 points 2 days ago

Important rule when looking at such maps, always ask yourself what the map is not showing

[–] Fleur_@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You get easily over 100k people moving a year and you think this is significantly insignificant?

[–] Vegan_Joe@anarchist.nexus 3 points 1 day ago

It is not uncommon for Americans to move multiple times in their lifetime.

There are around 350 million Americans, with 50 to 70 million Gen Z alone.

In that context, yes, 100K is insignificant, being 0.0286% of the total population.

[–] TrackenDaKracken@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Well, you looked at it, and engaged with it. So, job done?

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 days ago

All the older gens been moving to Missouri. It's fucked the people from the state. It was a lower wage state with more affordable housing because of it. People from places like California sell off their crazy expensive house, but a home in Missouri, and have a big retirement and a spare six figures. Now people from Missouri can't afford homes or afford to retire. So many "landlords" are also originally from out of state. They moved here and bought a few extra townhouses so they don't have to work. I was lucky enough to get a house before things got crazy expensive. What I paid $130k for 15 years ago is now $300k at a much higher interest rate. No one from around here can afford that.

[–] soyslurper2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If you add all the positive changes, you get 179k. This is 23.9% of GenZ according to the map, so the map claims there are 749k GenZ in total (of which 23.9% moved).

I'm not sure how they are calculating under 1 million GenZ in 2024. Anyway, the map is still bad for not doing population density per state.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Remember that the numbers on the states are net numbers. If Texas has 500,000 Gen Z emigrants and 511,000 Gen Z immigrants, that only shows up as 11,000 here while still meaning a vastly higher proportion of Gen Z migrating across state lines. If every state paired up with one other one and exchanged 100,000 Gen Z people, you'd have 5,000,000 Gen Z migrants but every state on the map would show zero

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

HCOL will cause a migration, plus the lack of jobs for entry levels and recent graduates in MCOL/hcol areas, despite it being hubs, most people that moved in the hcol areas already have a long established career, in tech , biotech(scientist, health)

[–] omghi@thelemmy.club 12 points 2 days ago (4 children)

WHY ARE YOU GOING TO IDAHO 😭

[–] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Chip industry, both potato and RAM

[–] myyass@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Cheeki Breeki Boris! We have potato salad for dinner every night! Best place on earth!

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Lots of GenZ men proudly identify as fascist, so Idaho is the perfect fit.

[–] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] P1k1e@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I do love me some potatos

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago

It's such a shithole that housing might still be affordable?

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 54 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Now as a % to state population for it to be actually relevant

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 10 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Another population heatmap.

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[–] 13igtyme@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

South Carolina is cheap as fuck and many likely are working from home. I have coworkers there. Sure they have no rights as humans, but maybe enough will start to sway elections.

[–] myyass@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I'll put it this way, when you cross the border and stop at Savannah in Georgia. Man it feels like you escaped a crack den and returned to society, and this is Georgia...

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Almost all of that make sense except South Carolina. There's nothing in South Carolina.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Charleston is just about the only good thing South of Richmond. But like as a place to visit, I can't imagine wanting to live there.

[–] btsax@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago

I hope anyone moving there likes strip malls and unaffordable, cheaply built HOA housing. Because that's all there is outside of the touristy parts. And traffic

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

that's not true. there's that law that makes playing cards in a pub illegal

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[–] orbital@infosec.pub 18 points 3 days ago
[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

California is so expensive... I get it. You get what you pay for sometimes, though.

[–] Bristlecone@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Poor gen Z can't pay for jack shit

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 3 days ago

The factor is money

[–] jumperalex@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

This is pointless with a cross generational comparison. And even that would be sus due to other confounding factors, like, the economy.

[–] myyass@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Oh no those who moved to South Carolina...

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