Since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there has been a considerable amount of movement regarding residents relocating to, from, and within Orange County. This analysis has provided insight using “real-time” data supplied by the United States Postal Service (USPS) on residential trends. Through this brief snapshot we can determine cities within Orange County that residents are relocating to as well as show analysis for the small portion of residents that choose to leave the county all together.
In 2020 Orange County recorded 137,997 permanent and temporary change-of-address requests, down 1.3% from the three-year average of 139,875 requests. Of all the residential requests, there has been a consistent retention rate of 95% of people changing their address remaining inside Orange County.
Top Cities for OC Residents Over Three Years:
1. Irvine: 72,444 Households (17.3% of all change-of address requests)
2. Anaheim: 50,126 (11.9%)
3. Santa Ana: 36,412 (8.7%)
4. Huntington: 23,455 (5.6%)
5. Costa Mesa: 21,339 (5.1%)
The same narrative applies for those who have chosen to leave Orange County entirely. Although residents are moving outside of the county boundaries, the vast majority of these changes stay relatively local.
Top Counties for Residents Leaving O.C over Three Years:
1. Los Angeles County – 10,773 Households
2. Riverside County – 6,395
3. San Diego County – 1,722
4. Clark County – 937
