I was looking at migration data on Realtor.com recently — they have a great interactive tool that shows exactly where people are moving from and moving to, by county — and I thought it was worth sharing what I found.

Who's Moving to King County

The number one feeder market for King County? San Francisco. Every year, for many years running. No surprise there — the tech industry connection between the Bay Area and Seattle is deep, and the relative cost of living (as wild as that sounds given Seattle prices) still draws people here.

Los Angeles is second. That's more of a general California migration story — people leaving the state for a combination of cost, taxes, and lifestyle reasons, landing in the Pacific Northwest.

Then it gets more interesting: Denver was notably high. New York, Washington D.C., and Connecticut also showed up. DC makes obvious sense — Amazon headquarters and government-adjacent tech jobs. New York tends to be a back-and-forth with Seattle's tech and finance communities.

What surprised me: Austin wasn't on the Realtor.com list, even though in our actual business we've seen a decent amount of movement between Austin and Seattle. Same with Boston — we've had a number of relocation clients from Boston, almost all connected to biotech. Those two may just not show up at the county level in the data the same way.

Who's Leaving Seattle (And Where They're Going)

Out-migration from King County is primarily headed to two places: Arizona (mostly the Phoenix/Scottsdale area) and Idaho (primarily Boise and Coeur d'Alene).

Arizona is largely our clients' second home market — people aren't necessarily leaving Seattle permanently, they're building a life in two places. But there are definitely people making full-time moves to the Phoenix area.

Idaho is a different story. That migration is predominantly higher net-worth individuals seeking more favorable tax treatment and lower cost of living for retirement or semi-retirement. Boise has become a very serious real estate market as a result.

What This Means for Your Sale

If you're listing a home in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, or Mercer Island, your buyer is quite likely arriving from out of state and relocating for a tech job. Understanding that buyer — what they're used to, what they're expecting, what questions they ask — is part of how we market and present properties for maximum appeal.

We've helped a lot of relocation buyers over the years. If that's you, we know the process well.

Watch the original video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ObYJHyN08yQ