The future of the US economy could be powered by cities in the Sunbelt.
Economic and societal power in the US may be shifting away from colossal coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco to metropolitan areas tucked below the Mason-Dixon line, as Barron's recently reported. That's because economic power is flowing to the middle of the country — and places such as Houston, Dallas, Nashville, and Miami are becoming hot spots.
Just as New York City has Wall Street and San Francisco has Silicon Valley, Houston has its energy economy, and Miami has its proximity to Latin America and growing financial industry. And while Los Angeles has Hollywood and Washington, DC, has politics, Dallas has a blossoming environment of diversified business behemoths and Nashville is a healthcare and tech hub.
A Redfin analysis from March of the company's user search data indicated San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, were the top four cities Americans were looking to leave. Miami, meanwhile, was the city users appeared to be most interested in relocating to — Dallas and Houston ranked eighth and 10th, respectively. Lower taxes and housing costs are among the top factors motivating movers.
"You used to have two coastal power zones where you could live your best life, never really touching down in the red states," Niall Ferguson, a Stanford historian, told Barron's. "We now have much more of a multipolar America rather than a bipolar America. That reflects taxes, quality of life, cost of living, the ability to build, and incredibly striking differentials in quality of governance."
The South has the highest job openings rate and the lowest unemployment rate of any region, according to a Bank of America report published on December 7. What's more, in recent months, the region has seen the largest uptick in credit card spending. The economic growth of cities like Houston, Dallas, Nashville, and Miami are among the reasons why.
Here's why these four cities could be central to America's economic future.