Flood-Prone Areas See People Move Away, Redfin Finds

(Image courtesy of Mathias Reding/pexels.com)

Redfin, Seattle, released an analysis finding that high-flood-risk counties saw more residents move out than in last year.

High-flood-risk counties saw 29,027 more people move out than in throughout 2024. Low-flood-risk counties saw 35,941 more people move in than out. That’s the largest gain since 2019.

A high-flood-risk county is one that ranks in the top 10% when it comes to the share of homes facing high flood risk. That means counties with 23.7%-99.1% of homes facing a flood risk qualify.

Specifically, Miami-Dade County in Florida, where more than 33% of homes face a high flood risk, had 67,418 more people move out than in. That was the largest net outflow among the 310 high-flood-risk counties in the analysis.

Harris County, Texas, is No. 2, with a net outflow of 31,165. Kings County, N.Y., is third, with a net outflow of 28,158. Hudson County, N.J., saw a net outflow of 12,735 and Jefferson Parish, La., saw a net outflow of 5,126.

Orleans Parish, La., which includes New Orleans, saw a net outflow of 4,950. With 99.1% of homes facing high flood risk, it’s the highest-risk county in the U.S.

Rounding out the top 10 were Pinellas County, Fla., Norfolk City, Va., Cameron County, Texas, and Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska.

Redfin noted that its agents in high-flood-risk areas point to factors like housing costs, climate risk, rising insurance premiums and politics as issues that have made people reluctant to stay. And, others are leaving because they have indeed been affected by flooding.