Should I Move to Start Over?
Sometimes a fresh start is exactly what we need.
Whether you're leaving behind a job, a relationship, or feeling stuck, relocating is often the ultimate reset button. The U.S. is full of cities and towns offering new energy, opportunities, and a chance to rewrite your story. Each person's idea of a fresh start is different, and our quiz to find the best city for you can help narrow it down based on your interests.
What are the top cities others are moving to to start over? Here are some of the popular choices—whether you’re looking for peace and quiet, a thriving job market, a supportive community, or a little bit of everything.
What Are the Top Cities for a Fresh Start?
1. Austin, TX
Ditch your perceptions of deserts, oil magnates, and cowboys. The capital of the Lone Star State ain’t that.
Socially, Austin is home to some of the hottest bars and foodie spots in the country, and a wide range of popular live music concerts. Austin is an increasingly attractive destination for young socialites, and with a high number of transient transplants, it’s not as difficult to break into the social scene as cities with higher percentages of residents staying where they grew up.
Workwise, Facebook, Google, Apple and more all have offices in Austin, and the city unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country. Low Texas taxes also make Austin a popular destination for remote workers.
Some of the top neighborhoods in Austin include:
Learn more about Austin, TX
2. Denver, CO
So much to say about this city but we’re going to start with what has amazed visitors and residents for hundreds of years and will continue to do so for hundreds of years: the view.
Socially, without question, the outdoors plays a significant role in the lifestyle of most “Denverites.” Outdoor play is year-round, and whether you’re into hiking, running, skiing, fishing, kayaking, or just taking a walk and enjoying the sunshine, it never stops here. Pair that with a culture of breweries, music, and a young population, you can get a sense of what it's like to live in Denver.
Denver is a perfect storm of a robust local economy, where you can move to for a job in: Aerospace, Telecomm, Healthcare, Bioscience, Energy, and Tech, and an amazing place where work-from-homer’s are moving to experience the outdoor lifestyle without any commute. Just like the social scene, the work style of Denver is casual. No matter the industry (well, maybe not the lawyers), people are in jeans here.
Some of the top neighborhoods in Denver include:
Learn more about living in Denver, CO
3. Raleigh, NC
Everybody knows about the tech scene in the Research Triangle (Raleigh is one of the three in the triangle) but what most are surprised by is that when you fly into Raleigh it is hard to even see the city through the dense trees that line the streets.
Socially, newcomers and old-timers consistently talk about the “Southern Warmth” of Raleigh. By this, they mean how kind and relaxed everyone is here, rather than a remark on the southern heat. Expect conversations with strangers at stores, persistent greetings on the streets, and neighbor offers of support. Living in Raleigh is more about the greenery and access to the outdoors than a hardcore downtown nightlife, so people looking to start over somewhere quiet will find Raleigh a lot more satisfying than the previous two options.
Raleigh is ranked the 4th most educated city in the country, not surprising given it is surrounded by great universities, and this drives both tons of professional residents as well as an exploding entrepreneurial scene. Tech is at the center of the business boom, but there are also plenty of homegrown startups, including clothing labels, craft breweries, creative restaurants, and artists setting up in the downtown art galleries.
Some of the top neighborhoods in Raleigh include:
Learn more about living in Raleigh, NC
4. Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake is an outdoor lover's paradise and is regarded as much safer than other cities of its size. Socially, SLC is a fairly progressive city in a very conservative state. If you’re concerned about overwhelming LDS culture, there’s quite a bit of influence from anti-conservative Mormon counterculture here. You won’t see the kind of diversity that you see in a big, eastern city, but there’s a significant LGBTQ community, a lot of just plain outdoor enthusiasts (unlimited national parks – Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef) and the tech boom has drawn young professionals to Salt Lake.
Workwise, it might interest you to know that much of the internet traffic flowing west comes through the not-very-prone-to-natural or weather disasters state of Utah, so jobs follow the flow, including Adobe, Microsoft, and a few startup unicorns. And the local UofU and BYU don’t hurt the job market either.
Some of the top neighborhoods in Salt Lake include:
Learn more about living in Salt Lake City.
Each mover is different, and of course, the right move for one may not be the right fit for another.
Take our “Where to Move” Quiz to get personalized matches based on how you want to live.