Over the past five years, the pandemic, remote work, and tech migration have reshaped America’s cities—some booming, others stagnating. Among the boomtowns, a new study finds Lakeland, FL #3 of America’s metros seeing the most change, and #1 in the state.
The study comes from international moving company Good Migrations, in which they analyzed 191 metro areas with populations over 250,000, tracking changes in population, median household income, employment, home values, and job creation across the latest 5 years worth of data to find which cities have seen the most—and least—dramatic transformations in recent years.
Why Lakeland ranks as the #3 most changed nationwide:
Growth: Lakeland’s population is soaring, up 18% according to the most recent five years worth of data. Only Myrtle Beach, SC metro area saw more growth (+20%).
Jobs: thriving job market: Employment grew 14%, with job creations due to new business openings up 44%.
Rising home values: Lakeland’s housing market saw a 64% increase in home prices.
Florida highlights:
Florida’s seven most changed cities—Lakeland, Ocala, Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, North Port, Crestview, and Tampa—are among the nation’s top 25 most changed metro areas. (A total of 16 Florida metro areas were included in the analysis)
Florida dominates major economic growth regions. Looking only at America’s 50 top metros by GDP, three of the top 10 most changed are in Florida: Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville.
