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Gen Z Can't Afford To Live In Big Cities Anymore · The imuRgency Room

• 0:00
  I'm amazing. I'm so grateful.
• 0:02
  It's amazing to be here. You want to live in the middle
• 0:04
  of Ohio before? I want to live in LA before,
• 0:07
  because listen, this time it's out.
• 0:09
  It's Sunday. I got my latte, I'm about to go
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  to the farmers market and I might go to the beach later
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  bitch. This year, in 2026, the big
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  cities are out. The suburbs also are out.
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  But you know what's in mid cities?
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  Yeah, yeah, this is pretty nice. Hey, guys, what's up to
• 0:31
  emergency? And welcome.
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  Welcome back to my channel. And it's no secret or surprise
• 0:35
  that the cost of living is way up.
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  And with the cost of living and cost of pretty much everything
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  continuing to increase, the cities that already were
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  expensive are becoming even more so.
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  And this has forced Gen. Z into a very interesting
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  position where we kind of got to decide whether or not we still
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  want to be living in these expensive cities or if we want
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  to be looking elsewhere. Like I think we've all had a New
• 0:58
  York City or LA, LA fantasy, but maybe now's not the time to be
• 1:03
  really going for that because LA and New York will always be
• 1:06
  there. And I think that that's a
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  decision that a lot of people are choosing to make right now.
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  Or we're seeing now people either emigrate from these big
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  cities to either move back home or just move away from the
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  cities with these crazy rent prices in general.
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  And I think this migration of Gen.
• 1:20
  Z is so interesting. And the reason why I wanted to
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  make this video is because I feel like we've seen this sort
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  of thing before, but I think the drivers behind it are a little
• 1:26
  bit different. And the destination that people
• 1:27
  are fleeing to is different, and we'll talk about that a little
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  bit later on. So make sure to stick around.
• 1:32
  But during the height of the pandemic, everyone, but notably
• 1:34
  Gen. Z, either had to move back home
• 1:36
  with their parents or move to lower rent cities as their jobs
• 1:39
  were on pause. They were laid off or went fully
• 1:41
  remote or just wanted to be closer to their families.
• 1:44
  And during this time, there were more opportunities to move
• 1:46
  literally wherever you want because rent pretty much
• 1:48
  everywhere was pretty damn cheap.
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  Like I yearned for the days of 2020 to 2022 rent prices where
• 1:53
  you could stay in these luxury buildings for fractions of
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  fractions of the price. And I think coming out of the
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  acute phase of the pandemic, things sort of shifted back.
• 1:59
  And I think the ripple effects of that migration for people can
• 2:02
  also be felt and can play a small part to this pattern that
• 2:06
  we're seeing with the Census Bureau themselves positing that
• 2:08
  this could be a lasting effect from COVID.
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  Fewer of the fastest growing places between 2022 and 2023
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  were inner suburbs than in 2019 before the pandemic, and more
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  were on the far outskirts of metro areas, 30-40 and even 60
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  miles away from the largest cities downtown.
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  And while the Census Bureau does not define exurbs, we tend to
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  think of them as far outer suburbs of metro areas, and they
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  often have a mix of urban and rural character, said Luke
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  Rogers, a demographer in the Census Bureau's population
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  division. Excerpts have sometimes been
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  among the most rapidly growing communities, but this appears to
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  be even more true now than before the pandemic.
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  And this is so interesting. At least it's interesting to me.
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  I don't know if you get down for like population migration and
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  stuff like that, that is kind of a niche interest.
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  But I think it's so interesting to see this shift in where Gen.
• 2:50
  Z is choosing to live and choosing to move as we're
• 2:53
  getting older and as we have more resources for ourselves.
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  Because we were historically the generation, as most young
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  generations do, to move to the big cities, to move to these
• 3:02
  highly populated areas. And we've seen this reflected so
• 3:04
  much in content over the years. Like a lot of us grew up
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  idolizing cities like LA because the millennials were on YouTube
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  and Vine making blogs, idealizing that city, making LA
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  seem like this is the spot. This is the city that you need
• 3:14
  to move to to make your dreams happen.
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  You can go to Lemonade and get your fun drink, then go to Earth
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  Cafe and see Kylie Jenner, walk up and down Melrose and see
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  Justin Bieber, and then go over to Delilah to see Tana Mojo make
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  it out with Drake. Like that was the fantasy of the
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  time when we were growing up. And then when we were a little
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  bit older, there was this big New York push, like especially
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  coming right out of the lockdown stage of the pandemic, like New
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  York content and New York influencers were being pushed so
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  hard. It felt like everyone and their
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  mom was moving to New York and kind of still feels that way.
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  I mean, up until very recently, where now it just seems like
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  Gen. Z is getting sick of this.
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  And while the grind to stay in larger cities is real, many are
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  taking that step to dip out into mid tier cities.
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  Like, come on, Like, does this not seem T?
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  And don't you lie to me because everyone has a friend who's in
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  New York City. That's actually leaving New York
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  City. I just know it and they're
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  probably going to one of these mid tier cities.
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  And let me be clear, mid tier is not a diss.
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  So for all the baddies turning it up in Denver or Philly, like
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  do not be mad at me. Like if we need to actually
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  define what these city tiers are because I'm not making it up
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  because first we got the top tier or tier one cities.
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  And these are the cities like New York, LA, San Francisco,
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  Miami, Chicago, what have you. These are cities that have high
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  populations, cities of high economic growth, input and
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  output, and are usually seen in the zeitgeist as like these
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  cultural hub and are also usually densely populated.
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  Like these are usually the cities that like someone who is
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  not from America can immediately name off the top of their head.
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  Like when we say big cities, we mean like big cities.
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  And these big cities also tend to be some of the most expensive
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  to live in. Then we have the mid tier or
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  Tier 2 city, which is what we're focusing on here.
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  These are like the Raleigh's, the Charlottes, the Houston,
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  Austin, Denver, Nashville, DC, Philly.
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  And again, it's no shade like these cities aren't being called
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  mid because they're mid, but because they're middle here.
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  They're generally less densely populated, more affordable in
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  comparison to the big cities because let's be real, what's
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  actually affordable nowadays? And these cities typically have
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  these forms of emerging industries and clusters out
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  there. Think of like tech, biotech,
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  finance, even things like budding entertainment and
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  production like Mr. Beast's production company, which is in
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  North Carolina. These cities are typically seen
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  as and talked about as like up and coming and as like a best
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  kept secret and often times has the feel of a big city without
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  the congestion and the hustle and bustle and the anxiety that
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  comes with those so to speak. And then of course we have the
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  tier 3 cities or like the small cities.
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  This video is not about y'all. Shout out to you all.
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  Lots of love to you all. I hear you, I see you, but not
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  right now. But the question here is, are
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  people, namely Gen. Z, getting tired of the
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  oversaturation of these top tier cities?
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  Because there is definitely a pipeline of like moving into a
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  city when you're young, hustling and then growing out of it, and
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  then moving to the burbs to settle down with a family.
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  Like this in and of itself is not a new concept, but it seems
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  that increasingly younger people are moving out of the big city
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  before the seemingly traditional exodus, namely without a
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  partner, family, kids, or anything to really domesticate
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  you out of the city. What the main reason that people
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  are fleeing the city is now is because of things like the cost
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  of living and housing increasingly not matching salary
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  or minimum wage. And not saying that the people
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  before us weren't struggling either.
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  But we cannot deny that inflation, the housing market,
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  the job market are all exceedingly worse than they were
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  then. And I'll be honest and take it a
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  step further, a good percentage of Gen.
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  Z doesn't even want to be an American to begin with.
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  So for the ones that are planning on staying, I can see
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  what we're moving different. And I think this exodus is so
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  interesting because in comparison to previous
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  generations where it was for things like family security and
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  stability, we're not moving a bump.
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  We're not moving to some random suburb or like some no name
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  small town because that's not where we are.
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  That's not what we're looking for.
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  We still want to have that sort of city like feel any younger
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  energy to a city. We just don't want the crazy
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  prices in lifestyle. And that's why we're seeing
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  young people move from cities, not to suburbs, but to these mid
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  tier cities or exurbs as some of them call, as the census calls
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  them. And in addition to the younger
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  feel of these sorts of cities, another thing that mid tier
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  cities have going on is the fact that industry clusters are
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  moving there because there's a lot of opportunity seemingly in
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  these mid tier cities. So you're seeing things like
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  more work opportunities out there or even an increase of
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  remote jobs that allow you to live somewhere more comfortably
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  and more affordably while still having a big city job without
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  paying those big city prices. And it doesn't help these tier
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  one cities cases that a lot of the things that they are known
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  for and the main pull of these cities are moving out of the
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  city as well. Like just a few years ago, a lot
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  of film production moved from Hollywood to places like
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  Atlanta, Austin, New Jersey and North Carolina.
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  It also is spreading outside of the country to our kinder
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  brethren over in Canada and abroad.
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  You have the Covenant tech giant of Silicon Valley in Northern
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  California still by far having the most tech jobs, but seeing
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  through multiple rounds of layoffs and just industry shifts
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  that there is a rapid increase in tech jobs in cities and
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  states like Utah, Illinois and South Carolina with lower cost
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  of life being cited as a reason. And then if you want to get into
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  the social aspect of it all, the social scene is fleeing the
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  traditional tier one social cities as well.
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  When you hear spring break, what city do you normally think of?
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  Miami, right? Well, I mean, except if you were
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  online this past year where the city that defines spring break,
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  the college kids craziness was Houston. 2026 marked the first
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  year that Houston broke in as a top spring break destination and
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  really truly came after their tier one sister Miami's bag.
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  Like just look up Houston's spring break on tech talk and
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  you'll see that the Girly's were turning up Houston in ways that
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  they never turned up Miami for better.
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  Well, no, just for worse. And then in the fashion world,
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  New York is usually hailed as like the crown of fashion in the
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  country, but but New York Fashion Week saw less traction
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  than cities abroad due to designers choosing to show in
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  European cities as opposed to showing in New York, continuing
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  to stir the panic that's been in headline since 2024.
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  With that being that fashion is on a dangerous decline in New
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  York. So we're even saying that all of
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  what these tier one cities were once known for and the reason
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  why people will move there are now being outsourced or just
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  moved to Tier 2 cities, if not other countries entirely.
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  And not that I'm necessarily fearful for these cities because
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  this happens pretty much cyclically and maybe 5 to 10
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  years, the tier one cities will be back in their prime, at least
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  I hope. But it is interesting to see
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  how, where, and why the industry moves.
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  And again, this all makes sense because like, if you're open to
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  not living in a tier one city, want affordable living and are
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  looking for opportunities in growing industries, why not move
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  to a Tier 2? And this part is pure
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  speculation. Like it's not really based in
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  fact. But I feel like the appeal of
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  these Tier 2 cities is that it allows people to leave their
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  other Tier 2 or tier 3 cities or just general suburbs and get out
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  of their hometown, which I feel like can be a common occurrence.
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  And feeling of like, you know, you made it when you leave your
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  hometown, which is pretty much always shown in media because
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  for some reason, there always seems to be a stigma around
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  staying in your hometown. And like, branching out seems
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  like a good thing. But as opposed to prior where
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  tier one cities were coveted, going from a small suburb to one
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  of the main metropolises, Metropoli, I'm gonna say
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  metropoli because that's how it's kind of the main metropoli
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  of the country seems really intimidating and very scary.
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  But maybe moving to a Tier 2 city doesn't seem as scary and
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  seems more attainable. I don't know, food for thought.
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  But moving back to people that were once in tier one cities.
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  Moving to Tier 2 cities. According to this KTLA news
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  article, nearly 50, 4000 people moved out of LA County between
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  July 1st, 2024 and July 1st, 2025. the US Census data shows
• 10:19
  that the decline is part of an ongoing trend.
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  In 2020, LA County was estimated to have more than 10 million
• 10:24
  residents. As of 2025, the county was
• 10:26
  thought to have just under 9.7 million residents.
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  It's unclear where the fleeing Angelenos are moving.
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  However, the neighboring counties of Riverside and San
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  Bernardino saw a combined increase of over 21,000
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  residents between 2024 and 2025, according to the US Census data.
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  The greater Las Vegas area we also saw a population boost of
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  more than 21,000 people last year.
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  And so we 2020 definitely did turn it for a lot of people.
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  It shifted a lot of things. Like I know I talk about it in
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  damn near every video but do not look at me crazy.
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  Like with the rise of remote jobs, maybe wanting to be closer
• 10:56
  to family, not wanting to pay insane living costs is like a
• 11:00
  real thing. Like I see the appeal.
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  I mean like, not for me personally because I I love me a
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  big city. What can I say?
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  But I understand the thinking and I get the appeal.
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  Like first of all, as someone living in LA, like having no
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  congestion, no traffic. And let me tell you something as
• 11:21
  Ala transplant piece that there will never be worse traffic as
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  the five heading east at 3:00 PM on a weekday with a one O 1 at
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  8:00 AM and not having to deal with that sounds like a
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  blessing. And then there's also like the
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  affordability of it all. And while these cities still may
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  not be as affordable as like the almost mythical fantasized
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  prophesized time of like the boomers, buying or renting an
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  mid level city doesn't need to cost you a limb, your dignity
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  and a high 4 figure, low 5 figure mortgage rate.
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  And the cost of living for most things is generally less or at
• 11:51
  least more reasonable. Like I'm thinking now I'm seeing
• 11:53
  people on TikTok complaining about gas prices and being like,
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  Oh my God, my gas is like $4.00 and that's so high and that's so
• 11:57
  crazy. Which yeah, it is.
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  Let me be clear with that. But like in major cities and
• 12:02
  things like LA, you got gas touching 789 dollars a gallon.
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  Yeah, I'll take 4 oil gas any day.
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  And like, sure, in a mid level city, you won't don't find
• 12:12
  Keisha Nada deejaying out any of your clubs on a random Wednesday
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  night. I mean, maybe you will, but the
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  chances are a little bit less likely than living in like in LA
• 12:19
  or New York. And you might not be able to
• 12:20
  find your preferred alternative milk at every store Cafe.
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  And you might not have as ready access to like the trendiest
• 12:25
  things or like the craziest latest, most boutique niche.
• 12:29
  You don't really need them in your life.
• 12:30
  Work out Pilates studios. But like that's OK because at
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  least your eggs won't be $10 and the price of your studio
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  apartments won't start with the number 3.
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  And that's truly what matters more to most people.
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  And as I previously mentioned, more industries are moving to
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  these places, so there are more job opportunities without as
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  much demand as in a big city. And by that I mean that there
• 12:46
  aren't 1000 people buying for the same job position.
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  Like it's still going to be a lot, but maybe it would be
• 12:50
  around like 300 or so, I don't know.
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  So statistically your chances are up.
• 12:54
  And then pay wise, mid level cities are kind of in a
• 12:56
  Goldilocks situation when it comes to geolocation pay for
• 12:59
  some jobs. Like I know for a fact that some
• 13:00
  jobs pay you in relation to where you live.
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  I know especially in tech because again, I like to talk
• 13:04
  about this any chance I get. I used to be a tech buddy before
• 13:06
  I became a full time creator. And to my shop, they pay you
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  differently based on where you live because the cost of living
• 13:11
  is different and different places.
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  And yes, oftentimes tier one cities do get offered the higher
• 13:16
  end of those salary ranges. I don't know if that increase is
• 13:19
  ever really enough to offset the cost of living there.
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  I mean, for some I'm sure it does, but for the majority of
• 13:24
  people, I don't know. But if you get a slightly higher
• 13:27
  pay for being in a Tier 2 city, more so than a tier 3, of
• 13:30
  course, and your cost of living is way lower, then you may have
• 13:33
  just found yourself in the pocket to pocket some more cash.
• 13:37
  Yeah. And of course this all depends
• 13:39
  on your job and isn't guaranteed for everybody.
• 13:41
  And that's a lot of good for the mid level cities.
• 13:43
  You can't say that I'm a hater because these are all solid
• 13:45
  options. My main cons are of course the
• 13:48
  resources and the appeal of the tier one city life because
• 13:51
  again, no shade, but some, not all.
• 13:55
  And I got to say that clearly not all, but some of these mid
• 13:59
  tier cities feel like corporate ghost towns and kind of like the
• 14:02
  city equivalent to a backroom. Like they just feel like
• 14:04
  corporate late stage capitalism venture capitalist final boss
• 14:09
  town, if that makes sense. Like especially like God forbid
• 14:12
  a tech company moves into that mid tier city.
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  You get that same kind of cookie cutter house or cookie cutter
• 14:18
  apartment with like the Gray floors, the fluorescent light,
• 14:21
  the freaking four of our one with the same kind of stores at
• 14:23
  the bottom. Like, that spooky me to me
• 14:26
  personally, but I know that's just like a me thing.
• 14:27
  Like a house is a house. And truly, who am I to judge?
• 14:30
  Because hey, there's give and take with everything.
• 14:32
  But enough of weighing the pros and the cons.
• 14:33
  Let's actually talk about whether or not this exodus of
• 14:36
  Gen. Z from big cities is a good,
• 14:38
  bad, or neutral thing. And in short, to answer this,
• 14:46
  it's all a preference. As with anything, there are pros
• 14:48
  and cons and it's just a matter of opinion for what you want in
• 14:51
  your lifestyle. Like yes, the Internet can be a
• 14:53
  great tool to see all of these cultural hubs before taking the
• 14:56
  next step of moving, but don't let the Internet be your whole
• 14:59
  guiding light and foundation. And also don't let the Internet
• 15:02
  shame you for what you want. Because like realistically, if
• 15:04
  you know in your heart of hearts that you want to get a home
• 15:06
  young, start a family, or just live in a place that's more
• 15:09
  affordable, then follow that. Don't let some random influence
• 15:12
  on the Internet shame you out of that and tell you that like
• 15:13
  you're not living your life to the the fullest because it's
• 15:15
  your life. And on the flip side, if living
• 15:17
  in a bustling city is really important to you, but you live
• 15:20
  in a small town and have everyone around you telling you
• 15:21
  to stay in that small town, that again, it's your life and follow
• 15:25
  what you believe to be true. It's really all a matter of
• 15:27
  preference and what we prioritize in our individual
• 15:29
  lives. And none of this exists in a
• 15:31
  bubble. This is the part of the video
• 15:32
  that I was selling out a way for because I think this is the
• 15:34
  really interesting bit because this mass migration that we're
• 15:37
  seeing isn't just Gen. Z moving from tier one cities to
• 15:39
  Tier 2. It's an interesting way to see
• 15:41
  how culture historically moves throughout spaces.
• 15:44
  And there are other factors that contribute to this, like this
• 15:46
  whole ship that we're seeing feels partially motivated by the
• 15:48
  ripple effects of gentrification.
• 15:50
  And it's kind of like a reverse white flight right now.
• 15:53
  And if you're unfamiliar with the term, white flight refers to
• 15:55
  when white people made their exodus to the suburbs from urban
• 15:58
  areas to avoid crime, which was what was said public facing, but
• 16:01
  the reality was mostly to avoid being neighborly with people of
• 16:04
  color. But for some reason, in LA at
• 16:06
  least, a lot of these white folks want to return and
• 16:09
  gentrify historically black and brown neighborhoods because it's
• 16:12
  cheaper to purchase that property, right?
• 16:14
  Those gentrification does impact property value of a location.
• 16:17
  These folks from these neighborhoods, not just Gen.
• 16:19
  Z, of course, have to sometimes pick up their roots and head
• 16:22
  out. And this is a personal anecdote
• 16:23
  for my researcher, but she says that she's personally had a few
• 16:25
  family, friends and neighbors who've left LA County and
• 16:28
  California as a whole because it's just gotten too expensive.
• 16:30
  And that's just one side of the issue.
• 16:32
  Then you have the other side of things where of course, when you
• 16:35
  have a bunch of people moving out of a space that initially
• 16:37
  weren't from the space to begin with, there is a lasting impact
• 16:41
  to that because again, these spaces don't just cease to exist
• 16:44
  when you living in them. And this is the part that rings
• 16:46
  shrew no matter what time period it's happening in.
• 16:48
  And it's the concept of like people thinking of like the big
• 16:51
  cities as this sort of playground.
• 16:53
  I talked about this in my New York West Village girl video.
• 16:55
  But we see so many times that like you have these people that
• 16:57
  were born and raised in like tier one cities growing up and
• 17:01
  seeing the gentrification of their hometown with hordes of
• 17:03
  transplants moving in, treating their home city as some kind of
• 17:06
  playground. Like this magical fantastic
• 17:08
  school city that they like pay their youthful 10 year to and
• 17:10
  then change the city around a whole bunch and then move out
• 17:12
  once they get old or serious or afford it anymore.
• 17:15
  Make no attempt to get to know the pre-existing communities,
• 17:18
  creating their own community events that are all behind pay
• 17:21
  walls and acting like they discovered places that have been
• 17:24
  around in the communities for years.
• 17:26
  And of course my ask in this remains the same as it was in my
• 17:28
  previous video. And that is that if you are
• 17:30
  going to move into somewhere new that already had a pre-existing
• 17:33
  community, actually try to get to know the place and the people
• 17:35
  that live there. And don't try and transform it
• 17:37
  into your hometown or whatever projection you think the city is
• 17:40
  going to be and venture out of the main square.
• 17:42
  Like don't just stay in Times Square.
• 17:43
  Don't just go to the pink Wall and go to community goods or
• 17:46
  anything else you saw on I Love LA and call it a day.
• 17:48
  Like all of these places, whether they're a tier one or
• 17:50
  Tier 2 city, are alive with people and culture, and it's
• 17:53
  time you get into it. Yeah.
• 17:55
  And at the end of the day, the cycle that we're seeing is just
• 17:58
  that, a natural cycle of ultimately going back to what,
• 18:01
  you know, if you're from the suburbs or a Tier 2 city, then
• 18:04
  it makes sense that you want to raise your kids there.
• 18:06
  Like that's how you grew up and that's how you want them to grow
• 18:08
  up. And that can just be attributed
• 18:09
  to the cyclical nature of life fleeing from the city.
• 18:12
  But I think what I really want to drive home with this video is
• 18:15
  that that is not this. That's not what we're seeing
• 18:18
  right now. And what we are seeing with this
• 18:20
  mass exodus from large cities is not some kind of coming of age
• 18:24
  thing. It is more akin to a survival
• 18:26
  tactic and just further shows the state of the world for Gen.
• 18:28
  Z. The money just isn't what it
• 18:29
  used to be. These cities just aren't what
• 18:31
  they used to be. And we the people are not living
• 18:34
  in the same world that we used to or that we were told about.
• 18:37
  So basically, making whatever decision is best for you is
• 18:40
  going to be what's best for you. And for me personally, that
• 18:42
  means continuing to be an LAP, yeah.