More Americans are moving to the Midwest amid affordability crisis, data shows
More Americans are moving away from coastal areas and to the Midwest as the national cost of living continues to grow.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Midwest -- which officially spans Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, according to the agency -- is the only region in the country where every state saw population growth from July 2024 to July 2025.
The high cost of living in Los Angeles drove David Silverman and Lauren Silverman to move to Cleveland, Ohio, where houses are cheaper, before they had their baby in 2022, they said.
"Moving here was kind of like an exhale, like we suddenly felt like it wasn't so stressful to live," Lauren Silverman told ABC News.
Lauren Silverman said in Ohio, not only were the houses more affordable, "there's a lot more house for the money."
The Silvermans said they don't think they would have been able to buy a home in California like their home in Ohio.
"You just feel that mobility in your life out here that you don't feel back out west," David Silverman said.
Census data shows a reversal of the trend once dubbed the "Midwest exodus," with more people now moving to the Midwest than leaving the region.
Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather told ABC News, "If [homebuyers] go to a market like Cleveland, where prices are much lower, it provides a much more accessible entry point into home ownership."
A median-priced home in the Cleveland area goes for about $237,000, and in nearby Akron, Ohio, the median-priced home is about $226,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. The national average, meanwhile, is nearly double the amount, at about $419,000.
"In Cleveland, you only need to make, as a household, $68,000, in order to afford the monthly mortgage payments on a median-priced home," Fairweather said. "Compare that to the coastal cities -- in New York, it's over $200,000."
Realtor Katie Madio, who is based in Ohio, told ABC News she also moved from California and is now seeing a growing number of homebuyers from states like Texas, California, and Florida follow in her footsteps to the Midwest, foregoing the attraction of bigger cities for a more affordable and manageable lifestyle.
"I am seeing out-of-state buyers move to the area weekly," Madio said. "Many are shocked at what they can get here."
The Silvermans said their big move to Ohio has paid off, and they don't plan on moving back to the Golden State.
"At a different phase in my life, Ohio did not have much to offer for me, but as a mother now, and with a family, it's the only place I'd want to be," Lauren Silverman said.
