Families of more modest means are leaving expensive American urban areas and being replaced by more affluent newcomers, and the income gap between those arriving and leaving hot spots is widening.
New research from Issi Romem, chief economist at building-data website BuildZoom, finds that metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Miami are seeing an influx of new residents from other parts of the U.S. who earn significantly more than those who are leaving.
Policy makers and advocates for low-income housing often discuss fears that rising home prices are pushing lower- and moderate-income residents away from more desirable neighborhoods toward less prime ones with much longer commutes.
But Mr. Romem’s analysis of U.S. Census data shows that expensive American metros are losing lower- and middle-income families who help power sectors of the economy such as restaurants and hotels and public services like schools and police departments, not just to the suburbs but to completely different metropolitan areas.
“Essentially you have people who are higher income, replacing people who are lower income,” Mr. Romem said. “You see incomes rising and it’s not [just] because the economy is getting better. It’s because people are leaving.”
View Article