These Are the Cities Millennials Are Moving to Right Now

From job opportunities to—perhaps most importantly—home affordability, there are a number of reasons why millennials choose to relocate to a certain city in droves. A recent National Association of REALTORS®' report compiled a list of the most popular cities in the country based on the share of millennials moving there and how many of them make up the total population.

To come up with the data, NAR looked at the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. and analyzed them for employment gains, population trends, income levels and housing conditions.

"An overwhelming majority of younger and older millennial homebuyers responded that their strong desire to own a home was the primary reason that they purchased their home," says Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

One of the more interesting stats culled from the report is that around three-quarters of all people moving to Madison, Wis., are millennials.

Here are, in alphabetical order, the top 10 cities in the country for millennials:

Bakersfield, Calif.

• Share of millennial movers: 67%
• Share of millennials to total population: 28%

Denver, Colo.

• Share of millennial movers: 65%
• Share of millennials to total population: 29%

Durham, N.C.

• Share of millennial movers: 68%
• Share of millennials to total population: 29%

El Paso, Texas

• Share of millennial movers: 65%
• Share of millennials to total population: 27%

Grand Rapids, Mich.

• Share of millennial movers: 73%
• Share of millennials to total population: 27%

Madison, Wis.

• Share of millennial movers: 75%
• Share of millennials to total population: 32%

Oklahoma City, Okla.

• Share of millennial movers: 61%
• Share of millennials to total population: 29%

Omaha, Neb.

• Share of millennial movers: 67%
• Share of millennials to total population: 28%

Salt Lake City, Utah

• Share of millennial movers: 61%
• Share of millennials to total population: 31%

Seattle, Wash.

• Share of millennial movers: 70%
• Share of millennials to total population: 29%

"As long as supply keeps up to meet demand, and prevents costs from rising too high and too rapidly, these identified metro areas are likely to see an uptick in purchases from millennial homebuyers," Yun adds.

For more information and to view NAR’s full methodology, visit www.nar.realtor.