{"id":7106,"date":"2026-10-20T01:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T01:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=7106"},"modified":"2026-10-20T01:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T01:05:37","slug":"gen-z-is-chasing-the-american-dream-in-south-carolina-missouri-and-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=7106","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z is chasing the American Dream in South Carolina, Missouri, and Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2237690704-e1792419807202.jpg?w=2048\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California recorded the nation\u2019s largest net loss of Gen Z adults in 2024, shedding roughly 58,109 young adults, according to a new LendingTree report analyzing the latest available Census data.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Texas was the biggest destination for young Californians on the move. Other states also recorded sizable net gains in nationwide Gen Z migration, including South Carolina, which gained 22,843; Missouri, with 14,063; and Tennessee, with 13,537. Several of these states offer a lower cost of living than many other parts of the country, potentially giving young adults more room to stretch their paychecks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Washington, D.C., was a notable outlier. The nation\u2019s capital recorded a net gain of 13,905 Gen Z adults despite ranking among the more expensive places to live. But the region\u2019s concentration of high-paying jobs may help offset its steep housing and living costs for some young professionals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moving across state lines for school, a new job, or a change of scenery is nothing new for young adults. Still, the scale of the migration is striking: Nearly 11 million Gen Z adults\u2014roughly one in four\u2014moved in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re young, and you\u2019re just getting started, you don\u2019t have to worry about moving your kids to a new school or uprooting your entire family,\u201d report author Matt Schulz told Realtor.com. \u201cYou can just kind of get up and go, and I think we\u2019re certainly seeing some of that in this.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soaring costs and a tough job market are pushing Gen Z to flee<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persistent inflation, stubborn housing costs, and higher energy prices continue to strain household budgets across the country. For young people, those pressures come on top of an unfriendly job market for entry-level workers and the restart of student loan payments, making it even harder to get their lives off the ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some 42% of Gen Z are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent Bank of America study. Nearly half reported that the high cost of living is a top barrier to financial success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet even as high living costs push some young adults to seek opportunities elsewhere, California in particular continues to attract some newcomers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to U-Haul\u2019s 2026 Midyear Migration Trends report, which tracks the net gain of its one-way truck and trailer rentals, California ranked in the top three destinations for both Gen Z and millennial movers from July 2025 through June 2026. The San Francisco Bay Area specifically ranked among the generations\u2019 top metro destinations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state\u2019s role at the center of the AI boom may help explain its appeal. California is home to major AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, along with 56 Fortune 500 companies, ranging from Apple to Williams-Sonoma. For young workers hoping to break into technology or other high-paying industries, those opportunities may help offset the state\u2019s steep living costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, California\u2019s appeal to some newcomers hasn\u2019t translated into stronger overall migration numbers. The state has ranked last in U-Haul\u2019s annual growth rankings for six consecutive years, highlighting the challenge of attracting new residents while others continue to leave.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From big cities to overlooked markets: Where experts say Gen Z should move to get ahead<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Gen Z trying to decide where to put down roots, Scott Galloway, a podcaster and NYU Stern School of Business professor, has argued that big cities can offer a career advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said that two-thirds of global economic growth over the next 30 years will come from the world\u2019s 20 \u201csupercities\u201d such as London, Milan, New York, and San Francisco, where wealth, talent, and innovation are concentrated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re in a city, you\u2019re playing against Serena Williams every day,\u201d Galloway said on <em>The Diary of a CEO<\/em> podcast in 2024. \u201cEveryone is smart, everyone is well-dressed, everyone is working hard, everyone is taking chances. And you are surrounded by people who are very successful, and you are gonna bump off professional and personal [opportunities] every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Barbara Corcoran, the self-made millionaire real estate mogul and <em>Shark Tank<\/em> investor, offers a different approach to building wealth: Look for affordable property in overlooked markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGo anywhere that has a poor school district where prices are really low,\u201d Corcoran said on the <em>Elvis Duran<\/em> radio show in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The South, she added, can be a particularly promising place to find deals\u2014but not Florida, where housing costs in some markets have surged, and wealthy newcomers have helped fuel demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGo anywhere in the South other than the hotspot,\u201d Corcoran said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a cheap house to buy, always. But not Florida, forget about Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Gen #chasing #American #Dream #South #Carolina #Missouri #Tennessee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California recorded the nation&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1397,1207,10208,479,631,5818,6729,503,542,536,2034,640,6469,2319,349,10209,2160,5898,667,3801],"class_list":["post-7106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-affordability","tag-american","tag-apartments","tag-billionaires","tag-california","tag-carolina","tag-chasing","tag-dream","tag-gen","tag-gen-z","tag-house-prices","tag-lifestyle","tag-missouri","tag-moving","tag-south","tag-south-carolina","tag-states","tag-tennessee","tag-young-adults","tag-young-workers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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