The Best Suburbs to Live in America: Movers #1 Suburb in Every State in 2026

According to our annual moving survey, 1 in 4 movers want to move to a friendly suburb. But which are the best suburbs to live in America?

We examined search data from moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator to identify which suburbs Americans deem “best,” one for every state. We based this on which suburbs have the highest in-to-out moving interest, meaning they are earning far more interest for inbound move traffic than outbound in 2026.

• Where are 2026’s best suburbs? According to movers, it’s Wake Forest, NC, Murrells Inlet, SC, and Boerne, TX, all see over 3 times as many searches for moves in as out.
• In 35 states, the strongest suburb has more moves in than out. Across those suburbs, the average in-to-out move ratio is 1.79; for the top 10, it’s 2.69.
• The median home value across the best suburbs to move to by state is $420k.

If it were up to movers, here are the best suburbs to live in America, by state

In our analysis there were 43 states that qualified, those that were home to suburbs showing at least 20 moves in and out and within a 30-mile radius of a hub city. From there, we selected one “best suburb” per state based on the highest in-to-out move ratio.

• 35 states were home to a stand out “best” suburb, meaning at least one suburb posted an in-to-out move ratio greater than 1.
• While 8 states had suburbs where the top ratio was 1 or below, meaning there is either flat move-in demand or more outbound interest.

The top 10 suburbs with the highest in-to-out move ratios showcase which suburbs may be feeling the weight of new moves. It’s here where we see a concentration of inflow.

On average, the top 10 have an in-to-out move ratio of 2.69, that’s well above the average across the full list of top suburbs (1.79). These 10 are predominantly located in the Sun Belt with the exception of Mountain West Broomfield, CO (Denver) and two stand outs in the Midwest: Wauwatosa, WI (Milwaukee), and Edina, MN (Minneapolis).

Sun Belt favorites take the top 5 spots. But notably, the top three, Wake Forest (4.65), Murrells Inlet (3.80), and Boerne (3.00), operate in a tier of their own, with searches for moves in three to nearly five times searches for out.

Interestingly, the typical stand out suburb sits about 16 miles from its metro hub (across 35 states). But as interest intensifies, so does the distance. The top 10 average roughly 20 miles out, and the top 5 stretch to about 25 miles from the urban core. This may suggest movers are increasingly willing to trade commute time for their favorite suburb.

Most Affordable of the Best Suburbs in America by State

While suburbs span every price point, the best suburbs in America according to moves have a median home cost of $420k.

Three of the top 10 suburbs with the highest inbound interest, Broken Arrow (OK), Casa Grande (AZ), and Maryville (TN), show up here.

Here are the suburbs movers love where homes are the most affordable:

Most Expensive of the Best Suburbs in America by State

On the other side, there are places that movers still love where home values serve as a premium for some of America’s best suburbs.

Three of the top 10 suburbs with the highest inbound interest, Edina (MN), Broomfield (CO), and Boerne (TX), show up here.

Methodology

Data for this report spans from February 1, 2025 through January 31, 2026, collected on February 17, 2026 from moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator.

Only suburbs with at least 20 searches for moves in and out were considered for this analysis. That meant we had sufficient data for 43 of the 50 states.

The states without qualifying suburb data are: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Hampshire. In these seven states, no suburb met the minimum threshold for inclusion based on search volume and ratio criteria during the reporting period.

More information about our move data and in-to-out ratio equation can be found in our annual Migration Report.

For home prices, we used Zillow ZHVI from December 2025.

Full list:

Joe Robison

Joe Robison is a data reporter for moveBuddha.com. Joe writes about moving statistics, population trends, economics, and current events.