New York City residents are at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Holed up in their apartments, it’s no surprise residents may be asking…in a post-pandemic world, is living in the city still worth it?

Looking at the last 4 weeks of search data on our moving cost calculator, the data suggest for many NYC residents the answer is no.

Searches for moving to NYC suburbs are up almost 250% compared to the same period in 2019.

In normal times the majority of searches for relocations out of NYC would be to other major cities like San Francisco, LA, Philly, DC, etc.

While we’re still seeing plenty of interest in moving to other major cities, the surge in searches for moving to suburbs within 90 minutes of the city has been unusual. ​Many searches are for move dates in July or August when people expect quarantine restrictions to be lifted or eased.

Also interesting, if you look at the median household income of these areas they’re some of the highest cost of living NYC suburbs. The areas also tend to be popular suburbs for families. This could suggest mostly wealthy families are considering leaving the city.

Here’s a list of some of the areas that saw the biggest increase:

Town/Suburb % Change Port Chester, NY +135% Short Hills, NJ +124% Montclair, NJ +105% Berkeley Heights, NJ +98% Ridgewood, NJ +90% Maplewood, NJ +86% Great Neck/Kensington +86% Stamford, CT +79% Long Beach, NY +76% Syosset NY +70% Scarsdale, NY +65% Norwalk, CT +64%

While the numbers only reflect people searching, not actually moving, the steep increases in search volume around these areas could suggest a coming change in migration trends post coronavirus.

Like most things with this virus, we’ll just have to wait and see.