Redfin: More People Are Moving in Than out of Fire- and Flood-Prone U.S. Counties

More people are moving in than out of parts of the U.S. where wildfires, flooding and extreme heat are more common, a new report from Redfin shows.

The nation’s high-fire-risk areas saw 63,365 more people move in than out last year, many of whom were moving to Texas. Five high-flood-risk Texas counties had net inflows of more than 2,000 people in 2023. All are near Houston, which recently experienced flooding and power outages due to Hurricane Beryl, along with extreme heat.

In California, which has already had a busy and challenging fire season, more people moved out of high-fire-risk areas than moved in—a reversal from 2022, possibly indicating that people may be growing more responsive to fire risk in the state, according to the report from Redfin, a technology-powered real estate brokerage.

A total of 34,170 people left high-fire-risk U.S. counties last year—17,357 of those people (50.8%) left California. That’s up from 41.9% in 2022, and overall California’s high-fire-risk areas had a net outflow of 6,937 people in 2023, according to Redfin.

High-flood-risk counties in the U.S. had 16,144 more people move in than out. Florida drove a large share of the migration to high-flood-risk counties, but a smaller share than in 2022, meaning people may be cautious over the flood risk in there.

A total of 219,799 people moved into high-flood-risk U.S. counties, while 203,655 moved out, a net inflow of 16,144—53.5% of the 219,799 were people who moved to Florida. High-flood-risk counties in Florida had a net inflow of 68,564, the report shows.

The nation’s low-fire-risk counties saw a net outflow of 38,401 people in 2023, and low-flood-risk counties experienced a net outflow of 6,892, according to the report.

Roughly one-in-11 people who plan to move soon cited concern for natural disasters or climate risks as a reason, according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of roughly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters conducted in February. Other responses were more common: Wanted more space (32.4%), lower cost of living (26.4%) and to be closer to family (16.4%).

The report is based on an analysis of domestic migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau and climate-risk scores from First Street. Redfin defines a high-risk county as one that ranks in the top 10% when it comes to the share of homes facing high fire or flood risk.

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