Y
oung adults are flocking to small towns and rural areas at an unprecedented rate, a trend that's been building momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Hamilton Lombard, estimates program manager of the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Research, this shift has led to a small-town revival.

    The 2023 county population estimates show that two-thirds of growth in the population occurred in areas with fewer than 1 million residents since 2020. Despite companies mandating a return to the office, the migration of younger adults into these areas accelerated in 2023. Lombard notes that this is the highest rate of attraction of young adults to small towns and rural areas in nearly a century.

    In contrast to the past decade, where 90% of growth was concentrated in large metro areas with over 4 million residents, since 2020, 75% of growth in the 25-to-44 demographic has been seen in cities with populations under 1 million or in rural enclaves. This is a significant shift from the past decade when young adults pursued well-paying jobs in white-collar industries and fled areas with fewer than 250,000 people for larger metros like New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

    Lombard stresses that America's millennials and Gen Z are strategic about which rural areas they choose to move to, favoring those regions with top natural amenities. These include climate, landscape, open spaces, and bodies of water. For example, Colorado's remote Chafee County has seen its younger workforce double compared to the national rate over the past 10 years.

    The concept of "Zoom towns" emerged during the pandemic when remote working was enforced, and remote suburbs and rural areas saw an influx of city workers seeking larger and more affordable living. Despite companies reversing their work-from-home policies, data shows that many workers have retained geographic flexibility, allowing them to continue working remotely from rural areas.

    Economic data suggests that former city dwellers-turned-rural residents have not just been sitting in Zoom meetings all this time. From 2019 to 2023, IRS applications to launch new businesses in the smallest metro areas and rural counties shot up 13% faster than in other parts of the US. Remote areas with top natural amenities experienced the most dramatic increases in new business activity.

    While COVID-19 played a significant role in turbocharging the migration of younger adults, Lombard argues that some crucial demographic trends predated the global calamity. Census figures indicate that by 2017, rural counties had already started to draw more residents in the 25-to-44 bracket than they were losing. Based on existing demographic trends, Lombard predicts that smaller cities and rural communities will continue to attract younger remote workers seeking greater flexibility.