O
ver the past six years, the American housing market has flipped its long‑standing trend. While the 1990s and early 2000s drew young professionals into large metros, a new wave of migration has pushed rural counties to outpace cities in price growth. Realtor.com’s latest data show that from November 2019 to November 2025, non‑metro areas saw median listing prices climb more than 70 %, whereas metro regions rose just over 30 %.
The most dramatic gains cluster in the Midwest and South. Blackford County, Indiana—its fourth‑smallest county with fewer than 12,000 residents—now tops the list. In November 2019, a typical home cost just under $56,000; last month the median asking price was nearly $156,000, a 186 % jump. Lauderdale County, Tennessee, follows with a 160 % increase: median prices rose from $83,000 to $215,000. Rush County, Indiana, grew 158 %, Fountain County, Indiana, 151 %, and Mitchell County, Iowa, 148 %. Across the board, these rural markets remain far more affordable than the national median—Blackford’s median is roughly one‑third of the U.S. average of $415,000.
What fuels this surge? A Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies paper explains that the pandemic’s shift to remote work opened rural areas to a flood of newcomers. Between 2021 and 2023, 540,000 people moved to non‑metro counties, reversing a pre‑pandemic net loss of nearly 78,000 residents. Rural workers earn less than 85 % of their urban counterparts, yet the lure of lower prices, larger homes, and less traffic draws many. Realtor.com’s senior economist Joel Berner notes that the lack of a robust rental market in these counties leaves fewer options for locals, amplifying affordability pressure.
Vacation homes are not the main driver. None of the top rural counties have more than 5 % of loans tied to non‑primary residences, and even those with higher vacation shares—such as Valley County, Idaho, where 62 % of loans are for second homes—still show massive appreciation. The Joint Center’s study found that counties with high vacation‑home shares saw a 48 % price jump from 2020 to 2023, but the Realtor.com analysis shows that even non‑tourist rural counties experience steep gains.
In contrast, the nation’s largest and most expensive urban counties have seen modest growth. Orange County, California, grew 55 % over six years, with a median price of $1.27 million. Maricopa County, Arizona, rose 44 %; Miami‑Dade, Florida, 40.5 %; Los Angeles County, the country’s most populous, 34 %. Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), barely changed, with a $999 increase in median asking price since 2019.
The pattern is clear: affordability in rural areas is driving demand, pushing prices faster than in already expensive urban markets. Vacation appeal plays a secondary role, and the influx of remote workers has turned once‑affordable homes into a competitive market for those willing to relocate.
