{"id":120460,"date":"2026-01-16T11:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T11:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120460\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T11:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T11:35:24","slug":"floridas-the-no-1-destination-in-america-study-says-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120460\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s the No. 1 destination in America, study says. But there\u2019s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A new study released this week<\/a> by moveBuddha has revealed the top destinations for movers across the country \u2014 and it turns out that the Sunshine State is ranked No. 1.<\/p>\n

To conduct the study, researchers surveyed well over 1,000 Americans about their plans to move in 2026, providing some insight into what Americans are looking for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did we discover?\u201d the report reads. \u201cMoving is increasingly becoming a high-cost risk, and when they\u2019re not prioritizing work, career and cost, this year\u2019s respondents dream about the Sunbelt, bigger lawns, and shorter commutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Take a look at the best-ranked places to live in Florida]<\/p>\n

According to the results, affordability has nearly doubled in importance compared to last year, with many Americans wanting to move \u201cwherever the cost of living is low.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Florida remained the top state that Americans want to move to, with California coming in at No. 2, and Texas bringing up the rear at No. 3.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not just any part of Florida that people crave.<\/p>\n

\u201cFreed from the burden of work, respondents value room to roam \u2014 preferably straight to the beach,” the report continues. \u201cIf they could choose their locations, 20.56% would move to the suburbs or a rural area with more space to stretch out.\u201d<\/p>\n

SO ARE MORE PEOPLE GOING TO MOVE TO FLORIDA?<\/p>\n

That may not necessarily be the case, the study points out.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because roughly 80% of Americans are somewhat or very happy where they\u2019re already living, and just under 40% of respondents said that the cost of moving is keeping them rooted.<\/p>\n

So while many people may want to move to areas like Florida that have warm climates and coastlines, the cost of doing so isn\u2019t always feasible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2026, mobility isn\u2019t about surface preferences anymore,\u201d researchers concluded. \u201cInstead, it\u2019s a risk analysis with headwinds like job availability, mortgage lock-in and housing burdens. It\u2019s about career and stability wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A new study released this week by moveBuddha has revealed the top destinations for movers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4535,6919,28,785,1644,4570,2159,139,141,140,5537],"class_list":["post-120460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-california","tag-features","tag-florida","tag-florida-ranked","tag-housing","tag-migration","tag-money","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}