Analysis: Georgia has emerged as magnet for millennials

As ubiquitous housing construction across much of metro Atlanta can attest, the Peach State has emerged as one of the top destinations for Americans leaving other regions and states behind.

A new study suggests a significant portion of those people—almost half, in fact—are part of a younger age group looking to launch careers and families right now.

Georgia’s mix of a thriving economy, fair weather, and relatively affordable cost of living appears to be working, as it’s recently emerged as the fifth most sought-after state in the nation, according to an analysis of 2022 U.S. Census data by StorageCafe, a nationwide self-storage search website. (Clearly, StorageCafe has a vested interest in tracking where uprooting Americans are going.)

Georgia saw an influx of 116,000 millennials in 2022—by far the generation who favored the state most—that resulted in a net gain of 36,000 people in the 24-to-39 age group, according to analysts. (Only Texas saw a greater influx of more millennials, with a net gain of 75,100.)

Overall, Georgia packed on 74,000 more people than it lost that year, according to the most recent available data. The top five states with households moving here were, in order, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, California, and Alabama. (Californians transplanting to the Peach State, for example, were attracted by a 60-percent cheaper real estate market overall, per the study.)

A small town’s worth of New Yorkers (16,500 people) also moved south to Georgia that year, nearly double the number that made the reverse move.

A relatively high 35 percent of these newly christened Georgians hold at least a bachelor’s degree, and about 13 percent of those moving in reported that they work from home, according to analysts. 

It’s a different story for Gen Zers in Georgia, the youngest demographic to start entering the housing market. Georgia actually saw a dip in that category—with a net loss of more than 1,000 kids and young adults leaving that year.

Conversely, the Peach State also landed at No. 6 for in-migration of Baby Boomers (10,456 people), with all of the top 10 being SunBelt states in that category.

Overall, the U.S. saw a decade-high 8.2 million people move between states in 2022—resulting in both influxes and exoduses—which analysts attributed to being one aftereffect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The four states with bigger population boosts than Georgia in 2022 were, in order, Florida, Texas, economic nemesis North Carolina (we kid), and Arizona.  

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