Young Americans say they’d move abroad for a better life with social welfare programs, new cultural experiences and less gun violence. But Gen Zers in some parts of the U.S. are more serious about becoming expats than others.
That’s according to Preply, a language tutoring platform, which surveyed 3,000 Americans age 18 to 26 in October. Gen Z Americans were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how strongly they feel their future lies outside the U.S., with the average respondent giving themselves a 3.10.
But in Portland, Ore.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Kansas City, Mo.; Gen Zers rated themselves at a 4 or higher in terms of seeing a serious future for themselves overseas.
These are the cities where young Americans most want to start a new life abroad:
- Portland, Oregon
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Sacramento, California
- Cleveland
- Orlando, Florida
- Riverside, California
- Indianapolis
- Miami
- Dallas
On the flip side, young people in Nashville, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City are among the least likely to have an interest in living abroad.
Plenty of young Americans say they’d live a better life abroad, and their wish to do so is only growing as they get older. As for where they’d want to go, young adults are most likely to say they’d want to start a better life in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and Singapore.
Those thinking about expatriating are pretty serious about it, too: 34% say they’d live outside the U.S. indefinitely, and 66% would start a family abroad.
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