San Francisco is the metropolitan area with the largest outflow of citizens

The real estate website Redfin points to San Francisco as the metropolitan area with the largest exodus of citizens in the country in the months of July and August. The real estate agency attributes this record number of relocations to economic burdens, such as high mortgage rates and inflation.

Redfin notes in its report that "24.1% of San Francisco residents searched for properties outside the Bay Area. Their main destination was Sacramento -within the Sunshine State itself-. The top out-of-state destination for homebuyers was Seattle."

The data used is calculated with Redfin.com metrics based on users who searched on their website to leave their usual area of residence for a cheaper one.

Newsom pledged to "end homelessness”

Due to the high cost of living, rising crime and homelessness, San Francisco has suffered an exodus of residents since long before the pandemic. Recently, nearly half of San Francisco residents reported having been victims of crime in the past five years.

This is in addition to the number of people living in its streets. Approximately 2.2% of the city's population is homeless. San Francisco has about 860,000 residents, of which 19,086 had no roof under which to shelter in 2020. The figure has been steadily increasing since 2016.

In 2008, then-mayor Gavin Newsom - who is now governor of California - promised to end chronic homelessness within ten years. A promise that has not yet been fulfilled.

National trend: Miami is the most popular destination

Redfin notes in a national trend that Miami was the most popular immigration destination, continuing a streak of more than a year in which the South Florida area ranks first for its good living conditions. Redfin measures popularity based on net inflow, i.e., how many users of its website sought to move to an area rather than leave it.

Crowds of homebuyers in places like Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC and Boston are moving to more affordable cities like Miami, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas and Tampa.