The #1 Suburb Everyone Wants to Move to in 50 of America’s Biggest Metros in 2025

When they want a place to call home, many Americans head outside the inner city beltways into quieter suburbs. In fact, according to our 2025 moving survey, one-third of Americans want to live in a suburban environment this year.

Places where they might find more square footage, a sprawling yard, better schools, and ultimately, just more room to stretch out. But not all suburbs are created equal.

So, using search data from moveBuddha’s Moving Cost Calculator we found which suburbs are the most in-demand to move to this year.

These top suburbs have the highest ratio of searches for moves in-to-out of cities across their metro area (and excluding the metro’s primary city). Our final top move-to suburb dataset highlights 50 metro areas (of the 100 most populous) for which there was sufficient mover search data. In some cases—particularly in parts of California—these suburbs rank highly not necessarily due to a surge in inbound moves, but because they are experiencing less out-migration than other nearby areas.

So, what suburbs are Americans loving the most, by metro, for their 2025 moves?

Key Takeaways

• Suburban hotspots in mid-sized metros are the most popular in 2025. The most sought-after suburbs include#1 Summerville, SC (Charleston), #2 Meridian, ID (Boise), #3 St. Augustine (Jacksonville), and #4 Vancouver, WA (Portland).
• Real estate in the most desirable suburbs costs more, with an average home value of $472K across the 25 top suburbs analyzed — that's 32% higher than the national average of $357K.
• Frisco, TX (Dallas) and Cary, NC (Raleigh) stand out as both popular to move-to and with high-valued real estate, averaging $671K and $617K, respectively.
• Only 11 of the top move-to suburbs offer below-average home prices, with the full range of real estate ranging from $151K in Niagara Falls, NY to $3.4M in Beverly Hills, NY.
• Head to St. Paul, MN, to find the only suburb that’s on both the most desirable and the most affordable lists.

The Top 10 Suburbs to Move to in 2025

Suburbs are popular. So, as cities with high job growth become the epicenters for their regions, the most desirable suburbs in each emerge as “Goldilocks Zones” that balance booming job markets with family-friendly lifestyles.

With just one top-ten suburb under the national average for home prices, this year’s top suburban prices reflect their popularity and growing demand for housing — only St. Paul, MN, can claim an average home price below the national average.

Additionally, these top 10 suburbs are often beating out their larger metro areas for new residents. For instance, Charleston was a top metro for per capita inflow in 2024. However, Summerville’s stratospheric 3.54 move in-to-out ratio this year is more than double Charleston’s 1.62 ratio last year.

Similarly, trends are playing out nationwide, with suburbs near Portland, OR, Jacksonville, FL, and Dallas, TX, also turning heads thanks to their proximity to these cities with high growth, jobs, and move interest.

Six of the top ten suburbs are linked to mid-sized metros (1–3 million people), striking a balance of “just-the-right-size” — a formula that seems to be working to win new residents this year.

They’re also known for other quality-of-life perks that may make them desirable and, in turn, keep prices elevated. For one, almost all the top suburbs are attached to mid-sized, vibrant, and growing metro areas. Summerville’s coastal Low Country charm and strollable downtown are matched by Meridian’s foothills access to miles of single-track adventure.

Some suburbs have even become symbols of their cities' reputations:

• Frisco, TX mirrors Dallas’ explosive urban and economic growth. With a 1.82 move ratio and 1,001% annual growth (2022–2023), it’s now a business hub within a business hub, hosting everything from the Dallas Cowboys headquarters to FIFA’s 2026 World Cup.
• Cary, NC is a shining example of Research Triangle appeal, drawing tech talent and entrepreneurs to its thriving business scene.

The 10 Suburbs to Move to in 2025 with the Most Affordable Home Prices

Some of the best suburbs still offer affordability, quality of life, and room to grow without the crowds.

For suburbs that offer average home values well below the national average of $357K, choose less popular metro areas. The ten most affordable suburbs have an average move ratio of 1.26, less than the 2.02 average of the 10 most popular suburbs.

At the top of the affordability list? Niagara Falls, NY, the most budget-friendly suburb in our analysis. Located just 90 minutes from Buffalo—the country’s hottest real estate market for 2 years running — is the most affordable suburb in our analysis: Niagara Falls, NY. 

While the city actually has the 11th-lowest move ratio (0.88, one of 16 of our top 50 cities where out-move interest is higher than inbound), average home prices are a low $151K. Right now, more people are currently moving out than in, but its affordability and proximity to Buffalo make it an under-the-radar opportunity for value-driven buyers.

For the popularity-minded, head to St. Paul, MN, where you’ll find one of the country’s most desirable suburbs at rock-bottom prices. Hike the Mississippi Riverfront, bundle up for the Winter Carnival, and eat your way through America’s “Best Local Food Scene.” While St. Paul is a city in its own right, it’s slightly smaller than its twin, making it a “suburban” choice that packs a bigger cultural punch than other ‘burbs.

Other top suburbs to move to that offer affordability without sacrificing popularity are Spring Hill, FL (1.55), Conroe, TX (1.45), and Edmond, OK (1.60) all boast above-average move-in ratios and home prices well below the average across the top move-to suburbs of 2025. Additionally, Daytona Beach, FL (1.37) offers an appealing mix of beachfront living and affordability, while Aiken, SC (1.13) provides a slower pace near Augusta—a draw for those seeking charm without a hefty price tag.

But three of these 10 cities are actually seeing more outflow than inflow, indicating that while home prices are …low, demand hasn’t yet surged—making them prime opportunities for buyers seeking affordability before these markets heat up.

These suburbs prove that affordability doesn’t mean compromise, offering newcomers a chance to settle in growing communities without breaking the bank.

The 10 Suburbs to Move to in 2025 with the Highest Home Values

With an average home price of $1,233,263 (inflated by Beverley Hills, CA), the most expensive popular suburbs prove that as desirability grows, housing prices increase.

These cities haven’t necessarily maintained their popularity — just half maintain more in-move interest than out.

But they have maintained their home values.

Nowadays, if you want to walk the autumn leaves with Harvard students in Cambridge or reenact teen drama in Beverley Hills, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.

Frisco, TX, is an outlier here: between 2005 and 2023, it ranked 1st in the nation for adding housing growth, building more than 50,000 units in that time. Even with the effort, Frisco’s influx of newcomers is still strong, and its home prices are more than twice the Texas average (and the only top Texas suburb above the 60th percentile for home prices).

Six California cities make the top-ten “most expensive” list. Two more California suburbs fared better, with Riverside coming in # 13 and Fresno at #18. But all 8 of the state’s top suburbs have prices more than 35% above the national average, and only Beverly Hills (the most expensive suburb) has higher in-move interest than out).

The discrepancy may be due to searchers jokingly pricing moves to the famed enclave, or simply that its hilly terrain with large lots and borders that were long ago hemmed in by urban growth could certainly engender a wait list for limited housing stock, as well as plenty of movers willing and able to pay it, who are happy to stay for the long-term.

Suburbs Are Having a Moment

Want a suburb that feels like a city? Frisco, TX, Santa Clara, CA, and St. Paul, MN are booming with jobs, culture, and growth while offering more space to spread out. As they grow, they offer a city-like culture alongside extra space for housing, parks, schools, and suburban lifestyles. Unfortunately, they also threaten to take on some of the problems of the city, too, from inflated housing costs to traffic woes.

Looking for charm and character? Other top suburbs are still tiny outposts with historic character and quality of life advantages without the drawback of life too far afield from economic centers. Williamsburg, VA, St. Augustine, FL, Beverly Hills, CA, and Summerville, SC, might all fit the bill.

Whether they’re following in the footsteps of a booming metropolis or quietly living off the charm of a slower-paced past, these top suburbs were made to fit every taste and budget.

America’s most popular suburbs are proving that big moves don’t always mean big cities. And if trends continue, their popularity—and prices—will only climb.

Methodology

To determine the top move-to suburbs in the nation’s largest metros for 2025, we looked at moveBuddha's most recent mover search data to compile a list of moves planned for 2025. The data used for this analysis includes searches made at any time between Jan 1, 2024, and February 4, 2025, where searches indicated they were planning to move at any time in 2025.

To find the top suburbs in each of the nation’s largest metro areas, we started with the 100 most populous metropolitan areas. For each metro, we selected the top move-to suburb (excluding the primary metro city) with the highest inbound-to-outbound move ratio. Our analysis included only metros where at least 20 inbound and outbound searches were recorded, resulting in a final dataset covering 50 of the largest 100 metro areas.

While some may consider what we classified as "suburbs" in this analysis as cities, they are considered secondary to the dominant core city within their defined metropolitan area.

Using 2023 Census data, metro area populations ranged from 590,337 (Fayetteville, AR) to 19,498,249 (New York City, NY), with an average of about 3.2 million.

The selected suburbs had an average population of 105,000, ranging from 15,000 (Williamsburg, VA, and St. Augustine, FL) to 320,000 (Henderson, NV).

We also used Zillow Home Value Index data (Dec 2025) for home averages and U.S. Census population estimates.

Full list of the 50 suburbs analyzed: