Gen Z Is Leaving the US Because They Can’t Afford It

Gen Z is looking to leave United States because they can no longer afford to live there, according to a new report from Greenback Expat Tax Services.
The 2024 Expat Report found that 45 percent of Gen Z expats had left the country because they wanted a lower cost of living.
That differed from their millennial elders, who were far more likely to leave the United States for political reasons (40 percent).
“It’s a wake-up call,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of michaelryanmoney.com, told Newsweek. “These kids are facing financial obstacles their parents never dreamed of. Sky-high rent, massive student loans, and paychecks that barely cover a night out. No wonder they’re eyeing the exit.”
The report surveyed more than 400 American expats.
Overall, better quality of life (69 percent), adventure and experiences (56 percent), and improved work-life balance (49 percent) were the top factors that influenced expats to leave the country, but these varied greatly based on age.
For Gen Z, the growing difficulties they face in obtaining the “American Dream” might be motivating them to start again in a different country.
“This isn’t just about twentysomethings with wanderlust,” Ryan said. “Remember the American Dream? For many Gen Z-ers, it’s starting to look more like a pipe dream. Buying a home, climbing the career ladder, socking away savings. It’s all getting pushed further out of reach.”
Gen Z in the U.S. is growing disillusioned despite living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, generational expert and HR consultant Bryan Driscoll said.
With wages not keeping pace with inflation and the housing market remaining out of reach for the vast majority of young Americans, some may view their departure from the United States as a matter of survival, he added.
“When an entire generation sees no future here, it’s a clear sign the system is failing,” Driscoll told Newsweek. “It’s not just about finances—it’s about a growing disillusionment with the promise that hard work leads to success—it doesn’t.”
Newer expats who had only been living abroad for less than a year were more likely to say the political climate in America caused them to move, 53 percent making this assertion.
Expats looked at particular places more than others as their next destination after the United States, with the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Germany being top spots for expats in the report.
While Gen Z was far more likely to leave the country for financial reasons, Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, said the United States is not the only country to suffer increases to the cost of living in recent years.
“Virtually every developed country in the world has seen significant upticks to everyday prices since the pandemic’s end,” Beene told Newsweek. “The odds are high most of these respondents claiming cost of living are also relocating for other reasons, like occupation or to enjoy other opportunities while they’re younger.”
Beene said that while some countries do offer lower housing costs, most areas of daily life aren’t going to be as cheap as one might expect.
“It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or eventually dissipates,” Beene said.
Ryan said the trend could end up majorly disrupting America’s innovation and economic growth in the long run, and the continued remote work culture is escalating levels of migration.
“This whole work-from-home revolution is throwing fuel on the fire,” Ryan said, adding that affordable housing and the student debt crisis would need to be solved to fix the issue. “These kids are thinking, ‘If I can do my job from a beach in Bali, why am I stuck in a shoe box apartment in Manhattan?'”