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The off-price apparel space remains well-positioned as consumers continue to favor budget-friendly retailers. We dive into the latest location intelligence for the space – and category leaders Burlington, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and T.J. Maxx – to explore how the segment closed out 2024 and started off in 2025.
The leaders of the off-price apparel space – Burlington, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and T.J. Maxx – drove the success of the category last year. In 2024, Burlington’s visits increased (7.9%), as did visits to Marshalls (5.3%), Ross (0.7%) and T.J. Maxx (4.9%).
Zooming into H2 2024 reveals that Burlington, Marshalls, and T.J. Maxx saw consistent YoY visit growth. And although Ross Dress for Less saw mild visit gaps for some of the period, all four off-price apparel chains analyzed started the new year on a high note with January 2025 visits up across the board compared to the previous year.
Marmaxx, Ross, and Burlington expanded their real estate footprints in 2024 – likely contributing to the chains’ YoY visit increases. And all four retailers’ have plans to continue their expansion strategies in the coming years – putting them on a foot traffic growth trajectory for 2025.
The foot traffic growth of Burlington, Marmaxx, and Ross plays a significant role in the success of the off-price category, which has steadily increased its share of total apparel visits.
In Q4 2024, the off-price apparel category claimed a majority of the combined off-price and our traditional apparel category visits (51.9%) for the first time since at least 2019. This demonstrates the segment’s strong holiday performance and continued resilience in the face of economic headwinds for both consumers and retailers.
Diving deeper into the foot traffic for Burlington, Ross, Marshalls, and T.J. Maxx highlights robust nationwide visits as well as several regional preferences among consumers.
Nationwide, Ross claimed the lion’s share of visits between the four chains in Q4 2024 (31.0%), followed by T.J. Maxx (28.0%), Marshalls (23.1%), and Burlington (17.9%).
Analysis of the chains’ share of visits by CBSA reveals that Ross claimed the greatest share of visits in a majority of the West and Southwest, as well as in many large metropolises. Meanwhile, T.J. Maxx appeared to be the most-visited brand in many CBSAs throughout the Eastern United States, while Marshalls appeared to be the preferred brand in the Mid-Atlantic.
And despite claiming 17.9% of combined visits to the four off-price apparel chains, Burlington received the largest share of visits in only two CBSAs – Midland, TX and Anchorage, AK, which could be due to the brand’s long-term smaller-format strategy. While a smaller-format store may have less physical real estate (and therefore visitor potential) than the typical Marmaxx and Ross location, it affords Burlington the flexibility to source locations with strong economics that can drive productivity for the brand in markets nationwide.
All four brands have a robust presence nationwide, yet regional preferences and variations in real estate footprints highlight the different paths to success in the off-price space.
The off-price apparel segment is thriving in 2025, with Burlington, Marshalls, Ross, and T.J. Maxx leading the charge. Consumers continue to prioritize value, fueling steady foot traffic growth and cementing off-price retailers as key players in the apparel space. Each brand is carving out its own regional strongholds while expanding its footprint, setting the stage for even greater success in the year ahead.
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How did Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs perform in 2024? What do early 2025 foot traffic trends tell us about superstores’ growth potential in the coming year? And what do visitation patterns at Target and Walmart reveal about the role each chain plays in the wider retail landscape? We dove into the data to find out.
Wholesale clubs outperformed more traditional superstores in 2024, as Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club saw 4.8% to 7.2% YoY increases in visits while Target and Walmart’s traffic remained relatively flat. And though wholesale clubs continued outperforming Target and Walmart in the new year as well, the two superstore leaders did see clear visit increases of 3.6% and 3.0%, respectively, in January 2025 – a promising sign for the retail giants’ growth in the year ahead.
Target and Walmart both operate national chains of one-stop shops that carry a variety of consumables and non-consumables, including groceries, apparel, toys, and electronics. But diving into the demographics of the two brand’s captured market reveals that each chain serves a slightly different audience.
Target tends to attract visitors from areas with higher HHI and larger households: The company’s captured market includes a larger share of both households with children and non-family (e.g. roommates) households than Walmart’s, perhaps due to Target’s relative appeal to both suburban and strongly urbanized segments. Meanwhile, Walmart seems to attract more repeat monthly visitors (who visit the chain at least twice a month), perhaps thanks to the chain’s extensive grocery offerings and to its popularity among rural and semirural segments who may not have a variety of retail options to frequent.
The two chains’ visitor base also exhibit differences in in-store behavior. Walmart visitors do seem to linger a little longer in store, with 20.7% of the chain’s visits lasting longer than 45 minutes compared to Target’s 17.1% – maybe thanks to the mission-driven shopping behavior of some of its rural and semirural customer base. But despite the longer visits, Walmart still receives a larger share of weekday visits than Target – perhaps thanks to its larger share of single shoppers with fewer weekday commitments.
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How did home improvement leaders The Home Depot and Lowe’s perform in 2024? And what lies ahead for the chains in 2025? We dove into the data to find out.
A challenging retail environment continued weighing on the home improvement space in 2024 as high prices and tighter consumer budgets led many consumers to push off discretionary renovations and remodels. As a result, visits to The Home Depot and Lowe’s remained below 2023 levels throughout 2024. Still, the visit gaps were relatively minor – The Home Depot received 1.6% to 3.5% fewer quarterly visits and Lowe’s saw a 2.2% to 4.7% visit gap relative to 2023 – a testament to the enduring strength of these home improvement giants.
Diving deeper into the daily visits data also reveals that, despite the challenges, the two retailers succeeded in driving significant visit boosts through promotions and holiday sales: Mother’s Day, Black Friday, and the Saturday of Memorial Day were the top three visited days for The Home Depot and Lowe’s in 2024. Lowe’s received its highest daily traffic boost on Mother’s Day – likely thanks to its free plant giveaway – while The Home Depot saw its largest visit surge over the traditionally busy Black Friday. Finally, Memorial Day sales drove the third largest visit peak for both chains.
The boost in consumer traffic during special events underscores the potential of seasonal promotions to drive engagement and foot traffic – even in times of wider retail headwinds and economic uncertainty.
Both The Home Depot and Lowe’s received fewer visitors in 2024 compared to 2023, but a closer look reveals that the YoY dips in repeat visitors (who visited at least twice a month) were larger than the declines in casual (once a month) shoppers. For example, in December 2024, the number of casual visitors to The Home Depot dipped 3.0% YoY while the number of repeat monthly visitors declined by 4.0% compared to 2023. YoY visitor trends to Lowe’s generally followed a similar trend.
This trend suggests that, with home sales at their lowest levels since 1995 and many consumers looking to avoid non-essential expenditures, demand for large-scale renovations may be slowing. As a result, contractors and homeowners undertaking major remodeling projects are likely visiting these stores less frequently.
But while these trends may be hampering home improvement visits in the short term, the current downturn could also be setting the stage for a future recovery – as a stabilizing economy could unleash significant pent-up demand.
Visits to the country’s two largest home improvement retailers, while not yet returned to their pandemic-era highs, are beginning to stabilize. Will 2025 see a return to normal for the chains?
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With consumer interest in wellness showing no sign of slowing down, we dove into fitness foot traffic data to see how the segment performed in 2024 and understand what the new year holds for the category.
The fitness category has yet to hit its peak. Following consistent year-over-year (YoY) growth in monthly visits throughout 2024, traffic to the category rose again in January 2025 with visits 2.3% higher than in January 2024 – a strong start for what is likely to be another standout year in the fitness space.
And while some may consider New Year’s resolutions to be an outdated, unhelpful institution, the data indicates that January still drives a significant fitness spike as Americans across the country commit to their wellness goals at the start of the year.
Fitness visits in January 2025 were 21.2% higher than in December 2024 – only a slightly lower spike than the month-over-month (MoM) January 2024 jump of 23.4% – indicating that New Year’s resolutions are still quite popular in 2025. At the same time, the slightly lower MoM growth in January may also reflect the relatively stable visitation trends throughout 2024 – a shift from the traditional patterns of fitness chains losing about 30% of their members each year.
Diving into individual fitness chains reveals that the category’s ongoing success is driving visit growth across the fitness segment – including at budget gyms such as Planet Fitness and Crunch Fitness, mid-range chains such as LA Fitness, and premium brands such as Life Time. And critically, both overall visitors and visit frequency were consistently elevated in H2 2024 and going into 2025, indicating that not only are more people going to the gym – they’re also generally going more frequently. It seems, then, that the wellness trend of the past few years is still gaining momentum.
While the increased interest in wellness seems to have brought a boost in industry-wide fitness visits, analyzing visit frequency by brand and quarter does reveal some differences – and some similarities – across different brand tiers.
All four brands analyzed – Planet Fitness, Crunch Fitness, LA Fitness, and Life Time – received the largest share of repeat visitors (at least twice a month) in Q1 2024, as New Year’s resolutions drove a boost in gym-going frequency. The share of repeat visitors then consistently fell throughout the year, and the chains (with the exception of Life Time) received the lowest share of repeat visits in Q4 as vacations and holidays likely interfered with people’s exercise schedule.
One might expect high value low price (HVLP) gyms to attract lower-usage members – since the modest fee may mean that members are not compelled to get the most bang for their buck – but looking at the data reveals that visit frequency did not necessarily correlate with membership pricing. While Planet Fitness and Crunch Fitness are both HVLP chains, their visit frequency patterns differed significantly: Planet Fitness seemed to attract a relatively high share of lower-usage members, while Crunch Fitness’ visit frequency exceeded that of higher-priced LA Fitness and was in fact was closer to that of premium chain Life Time.
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Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, faced a year of mixed results in 2024 amid continued challenges in the dining sector.
We analyzed the company’s overall performance, along with its individual brands, to see what the visit data reveals about the past year.
The past year was a challenging one for many restaurant chains, and Bloomin’ Brands was not immune. Overall visits to the restaurant group declined by 2.9% YoY, with quarterly visits in 2024 falling between 1.9% and 4.0% compared to 2023.
Still, Bloomin’ appears to be working on a pivot – and visits per location metrics suggest that this is working. The company closed dozens of stores throughout 2024, a rightsizing strategy aimed at focusing on high-performing locations. As a result, visits per location tracked more closely with 2023 levels, with visits per location for 2024 as a whole up by 0.1% compared to 2023.
Diving into individual brands reveals that most of Bloomin’s chains displayed minimal visit gaps. In particular, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse finished the year strong with a 0.8% YoY increase in Q4 2024 visits – in keeping with the general outperformance of fine dining concepts, especially around the holidays.
Still, one brand, Bonefish Grill, lagged behind the others. The company intends to simplify the menu and enhance the core brand experience, which may help bring visits back to Bonefish in 2025.
While most Bloomin’ Brands chains experienced visit declines in 2024, visits per location tracked closely with 2023 levels, reflecting the impact of the company’s strategic closures.
Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse all saw YoY increases in visits per location for three out of four quarters in 2024. Fleming’s in particular ended the year strong with a 3.3% visit per location increase in Q4 2024 – suggesting that Bloomin’ might do well by focusing on its more upscale offerings.
And Bonefish Grill saw smaller YoY visit gaps in average visits per location compared to its overall visit metric – a sign that rightsizing may have helped offset some of the broader traffic challenges.
Despite facing a challenging year, the stability in the average visits per location across Bloomin’ Brands serves as a reminder that there are plenty of ways for restaurants to pivot and succeed.
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CAVA and sweetgreen have been rapidly expanding, cementing their place in the fast-casual dining landscape. We dive into the data to take a closer look at CAVA and sweetgreen’s foot traffic performance and uncover the seasonal visitation patterns driving appetite for these fast-growing chains in 2025.
CAVA and sweetgreen are still firmly in expansion mode, with new store openings fueling their foot traffic growth. Last quarter, CAVA reported a 21.4% year-over-year (YoY) increase in total restaurants and currently boasts nearly 380 locations. And in the past year, sweetgreen has opened dozens of new venues, growing the chain’s footprint to over 900 locations.
Through H2 2024 and the start of 2025, CAVA and sweetgreen experienced consistent YoY visit growth – outperforming the fast-casual restaurant category every month. CAVA’s significantly larger visit growth (26.9% compared to sweetgreen’s 9.9% YoY in Q4 2024) was likely due to the proportional impact of new restaurant openings on CAVA’s smaller real estate footprint.
As CAVA and sweetgreen continue to expand, 2025 is likely to be another year of sustained growth for both restaurants.
Analyzing seasonal visit trends can reveal some of the factors driving sweetgreen and CAVA’s success.
Fast-casual restaurants generally receive more of their visits during lunch than during dinner. And CAVA and sweetgreen received an even larger share of lunchtime (12 PM to 3 PM) visits than the fast-casual average – indicating that these restaurants’ lunchtime popularity is likely a major growth driver.
CAVA also received the highest dinner (between 6 PM and 9 PM) visit share. This indicates that despite CAVA’s fast-casual designation, consumers seem to treat it more like a full-service restaurant, with patrons visiting the chain to eat a proper meal and not just to grab a convenient bite between errands. And the company’s recently launched loyalty program may well bring even more lunch and dinner visits to the chain in 2025.
Meanwhile, sweetgreen’s dinner visit share remained at or below the fast-casual average throughout the year. But evening traffic to the salad chain did increase during the warmer months – hitting a high of 27.4% between July and October – perhaps due to consumers remaining out and about later when there were more daylight hours. Consumers generally spend significantly more on dinner out than on lunch, so sweetgreen may want to fuel its warm-weather dinner boost by offering specials or promotions to attract even more evening patrons to its locations during Q2 and Q3. Sweetgreen may also choose to incorporate time-dependent ordering incentives into its new loyalty program to encourage more evening visits throughout the year.
Further analysis of visitor behavior reveals that CAVA and sweetgreen drive a significant share of weekend visits. And while sweetgreen’s dinner boost tends to occur in Q2 and Q3, both sweetgreen and CAVA’s weekend visit share increases in Q1 and Q4.
At least some of the elevated weekend visits in Q4 2024 may have been due to the many consumers that were on vacation – eating fewer mid-week meals out of the house – or grabbing a bite while doing their holiday shopping on Saturday and Sunday. Still, elevated weekend traffic in Q1 indicates that the chains have the potential to drive significant traffic during other cold-weather months on days when consumers have more time for recreation.
CAVA’s continued investment in inviting dining rooms – part of the chain’s “Project Soul” campaign – may attract unhurried diners looking to experience a cozy ambiance, while sweetgreen’s early-stage rollout of the robotic “Infinite Kitchen” may actually elevate the indoor dining experience to one that is fun and weekend-worthy.
As sweetgreen and CAVA pursue various strategies in their next phase of growth, an understanding of consumer behavior can help the chains maximize the potential of their robust visitor bases and enhance operational efficiency.
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1. Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships and are therefore more likely to stay signed up. Between January and March 2025, all of the gym chains analyzed had a higher share of frequent visitors (those who visited about once a week) than in the equivalent month of 2024.
2. Fitness chains at all price tiers need to be strategic about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the captured trade area median HHI increased for all fitness subsegments – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – suggesting that consumers swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options.
3. Close attention should be paid to how long visitors spend at fitness chains in order to reduce crowding and bottlenecks. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered, as well as having trainers available to help gym-goers streamline workouts.
4. Gyms can use hourly visit data to better serve their members or use promotions to stabilize facility usage throughout the day. In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of morning visits while value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of evening visits.
Like many industries in recent years, the fitness sector has experienced significant shifts in consumer behavior. From the rise in home workouts during the pandemic to the strain of hyper-inflation, foot traffic trends to gyms and health clubs have been as dynamic as the consumers they serve.
This report leverages location analytics to explore the consumer trends driving visitation in the fitness space and provides actionable insights for industry stakeholders.
The pandemic drove several shifts in the fitness space. Widespread gym closures led consumers to embrace home-based workouts, while demand for all things fitness increased due to an emphasis on overall health and wellness. This subsequently drove a renewed interest in gym-based workouts as restrictions lifted – even as some consumers remained committed to their home workout routines.
In Q1 2023, visits to fitness chains surpassed Q1 2019 levels for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, a sign that consumers had recommitted to out-of-home fitness. And in Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, fitness chains saw further growth, climbing to 12.8% and 15.5% above the Q1 2019 baseline, respectively.
Several factors have likely driven consumers’ return to gyms and health clubs, including the desire for both social connection and professional-grade facilities difficult to replicate at home. The steep increase in cost of living has likely also played a role, since consumers cutting back on discretionary spending can enjoy multiple outings and a range of recreational activities at the gym for one monthly fee.
Zooming in on weekly visits to the fitness space in Q1 2025 reveals the industry’s exceptional strength and resilience in the early part of the year.
The fitness industry experienced YoY visit growth nearly every week of Q1 2025 (and 2.4% YoY visit growth overall) with only minor visit gaps the weeks of January 20th, 2025 and February 17th, 2025 – likely due to extreme weather that prevented many Americans from hitting the gym.
And the fitness industry’s weekly visit growth appeared to strengthen throughout the quarter, defying the typical waning of New Year's resolutions. This could indicate that gym visits haven't plateaued and that consumers are demonstrating greater commitment to their fitness routines compared to last year.
Diving into visitation patterns for leading fitness chains highlights how increased visitor frequency drove foot traffic growth in Q1 2025.
Fitness chains tend to receive the most visits during the first months of the year as consumers recommit to health and wellness in their post-holidays New Year’s resolutions. And not only do more people hit the gym – analyzing the data reveals that gym-goers also typically work out more frequently during this period. Zooming in on 2025 so far suggests that consumers are especially committed to their fitness routines this year: Leading gyms saw an increase in the proportion of frequent visitors (4+ times a month) in Q1 2025 compared to the already significant percentage of frequent visitors in the first quarter of 2024.
Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships than last year, and are therefore more likely to stay signed up throughout the year.
At the same time, the data also reveals that – contrary to what may be expected – a fitness chain’s share of frequent visitors appears to be independent of the cost of membership associated with the club: Life Time, a high-end club, and EōS Fitness, a value-priced gym, had the highest shares of frequent visitors between January 2024 and March 2025. This suggests that factors other than cost, such as location convenience, class offerings, community, or individual motivation, might be more influential in driving frequent gym attendance.
Segmenting the fitness industry by membership price tiers – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – can reveal further insights on current consumer behavior around out-of-home fitness.
In Q1 2025, the captured market* median household income (HHI) was higher than the nationwide median HHI ($79.6K/year) across all price tiers – suggesting that even value-priced fitness chains are attracting a relatively affluent audience. This could indicate that gym memberships are somewhat of a luxury and that consumers from lower-income households gave up their gym memberships altogether as they tightened their purse strings.
Analyzing the historical data since Q1 2022 also reveals that the captured market median HHI has risen consistently over the past couple of years with the largest median HHI increase observed in the captured trade areas of high-end fitness chains. This suggests that middle-income households – that are more sensitive to the rising cost of living – likely swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options in recent years.
These metrics indicate that fitness chains at all price tiers need to think strategically about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers who are carefully weighing every expenditure.
*Captured trade area is obtained by weighting the census block groups (CBGs) from which the chain draws its visitors according to their share of visits to the chain and thus reflects the population that visits the chain in practice.
Fitness clubs of all types need to manage their capacity to ensure health and safety standards and a positive experience for members. And understanding the average amount of time visitors spend at the gym can help fitness chains at every price point keep their finger on the pulse of their facilities.
Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Value-priced gyms experienced the largest increase in average visit length – from 72.4 minutes in Q1 2022 to 74.0 minutes in Q1 2025 – perhaps due to their relatively lower-income visitors spending more time enjoying club amenities after cutting back on other forms of recreation. Meanwhile, mid-range and high-end gyms experienced relatively modest increases in average visit length, which were higher to begin with – likely due to their ample class and spa offerings and overall inviting, upscale spaces.
Elevated average visit length could mean that visitors are well-engaged and less likely to cancel their memberships. But as overall gym visits are on the rise, fitness chains may want to pay close attention to how long visitors spend at the facility. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered in order to reduce bottlenecks, and having trainers available to instruct on equipment usage and workout technique could help gym-goers streamline workouts.
Along with average visit length, understanding the daypart in which they receive the most visits is another way that fitness chains can improve efficiency and prevent overcrowding. And analysis of the hourly visits to fitness sub-segments revealed that some fitness segments receive more morning visits while others are more popular in the evenings.
In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of visits between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. (19.7%) than value-priced and mid-range fitness chains (11.6% and 11.8%, respectively). Meanwhile, value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of visits between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (21.9% and 22.2%) than high-end chains (16.5%).
Gyms can leverage this data to better serve members, for instance by scheduling more classes during peak hours. Value-priced and mid-range gyms, which saw a larger disparity between shares of morning and evening visits in Q1 2025, might also consider incentivizing off-peak usage through discounted morning memberships or early-bird snack bar deals.
The fitness space appears to be in good shape in 2025. Visits have made a full recovery from the pandemic era and still continue to grow, indicating strong consumer demand for out-of-home workouts. And using location intelligence to analyze the behavior and demographics of visitors to gyms at different price points can help identify opportunities for driving even greater success.
1. Idaho and South Carolina have emerged as significant domestic migration magnets over the past four years. Between January 2021 and 2025, both states gained over 3.0% of their populations through domestic migration. Other Mountain and Sun Belt states – including Nevada, Montana, and Florida – also drew significant inflow, while California, New York, and Illinois experienced the greatest outmigration.
2. Interstate migration cooled noticeably in 2024. During the 12-month period ending January 2025, California, New York and Illinois saw their outflows slow dramatically, while domestic migration hotspots like Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflows flatten to zero. A similar cooling trend emerged on a CBSA level.
3. Still, some states continued to see notable relocation activity over the past year. In 2024, Idaho, South Carolina, and North Dakota drew the most relocators relative to their populations. And among the nation’s ten largest states, North Carolina led with an inflow of 0.4%.
4. Phoenix remained a rare bright spot among the nation’s ten largest metro areas. The CBSA was the only major analyzed hub to maintain positive net domestic migration through 2024.
Over the past several years, the United States has experienced significant domestic migration shifts, driven by factors like remote work, housing affordability, and regional economic opportunities. As some areas reap the benefits of population inflows, others grapple with outflows tied to higher living costs and evolving workplace dynamics.
This report dives into the location analytics to explore where Americans have moved since 2021 – and how these patterns began to change in 2024.
Since 2021, Americans have flocked toward warmer climates, expansive natural scenery, and more affordable housing options – particularly in the Mountain and Sun Belt states.
Between January 2021 and January 2025, South Carolina led the nation in positive net domestic migration – drawing an influx of newcomers equivalent to 3.6% of its January 2025 population. (This metric is referred to as a state’s “net migrated percent of population.”) Next in line was Idaho with a 3.4% net migrated percent of population, followed by Nevada, (2.8%), Montana (2.8%), Florida (2.1%), South Dakota (2.1%), Wyoming (2.0%), North Carolina (2.0%), and Tennessee (1.9%). Texas saw positive net migration of just 0.9% during the same period. However, the Lone Star State’s large overall population means a substantial number of newcomers in absolute terms.
Meanwhile, California (-2.2%), New York (-2.1%), and Illinois (-1.9%) experienced the greatest outflows relative to their populations. This exodus was driven largely by soaring housing costs and the rise of remote work, which lowered barriers to moving out of high-priced areas.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, many of the same broad patterns persisted, but at a more moderate clip – suggesting a stabilization of domestic migration nationwide. This leveling off could reflect factors such as rising mortgage interest rates, which dampened home buying and selling, as well as the increased push for employees to return to the office.
Still, South Carolina (+0.6%) and Idaho (+0.6%) remained among the top inflow states. The two hotspots were joined – and slightly surpassed – by North Dakota (+0.8%), where even modest waves of newcomers make a big impact due to the state’s lower population base. A wealth of affordable housing and a strong job market have positioned North Dakota as a particularly attractive destination for U.S. relocators in recent years. And Microsoft and Amazon’s establishment of major presences around Fargo has strengthened the region’s economy.
Meanwhile, California (-0.3%), New York (-0.2%), and Illinois (-0.1%) continued to post negative net migration, but at a markedly slower rate than in prior years. And notably, several states that had been struggling with outflow, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, and Oregon, began showing minor positive inflow during the same 12-month window. As home affordability erodes in pandemic-era hot spots like the Mountain states and Sun Belt, these areas may emerge as new destinations for Americans seeking lower costs of living.
Zooming in on the ten most populous U.S. states offers an even clearer picture of how domestic migration patterns have stabilized over the past year. The graph below shows a side-by-side comparison of domestic migration patterns during the 36-month period ending January 2024 and the 12-month period ending January 2025.
California, New York, and Illinois saw population outflows slow dramatically during the 12 months ending January 2025 – while domestic migration magnets such as Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflow flatten to zero. Meanwhile, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania flipped from slightly negative to slightly positive net migration – incremental upticks that could signal a possible turnaround.
The only “Big Ten” pandemic-era migration magnet to maintain strong inflow in 2024 was North Carolina – which saw a 0.4% influx in 2024 as a result of interstate moves.
A closer look at the top four states receiving outmigration from California and New York (October 2020 to October 2024) reveals that residents leaving both states tended to settle in nearby areas or in Florida.
Among those leaving New York, 37.4% ended up in neighboring states – 21.1% moved to New Jersey, 9.2% to Pennsylvania, and 7.1% to Connecticut. But an astonishing 28.8% decamped all the way to the Sunshine State, trading the Northeast’s colder climate for Florida sunshine.
Similarly, 20.1% of California leavers chose to stay nearby, moving to Nevada (11.5%) or Arizona (8.6%). Another 19.1% moved to Texas, and 8.0% moved to Florida, making it the fourth-largest destination for Californians.
Zooming in on CBSA-level data – focusing on the nation’s ten largest metropolitan areas, all with over five million people – reveals a similar picture of slowing domestic migration over the last year.
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. – four cities that experienced notable population outflows between January 2021 and January 2024 – saw those outflows flatten considerably. For these metros, this leveling-off may serve as a promising sign that the waves of departures seen in recent years may have begun to subside. Conversely, Houston and Dallas, which both welcomed positive net migration between January 2021 and January 2024, registered zero-net domestic migration in 2024. Atlanta, for its part, remained flat in both of the analyzed periods.
In Miami, however, outmigration persisted at a substantial rate. Despite Florida’s overall status as a domestic migration magnet, Miami lost 2.6% of its population to domestic net migration between January 2020 and January 2024 – and another 1.0% between January 2024 and January 2025. As one of Florida’s most expensive housing markets, Miami may be losing some residents to other parts of the state or elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, Philadelphia, which lost 0.3% of its population to net domestic migration between January 2021 and January 2024, continued losing residents at a slightly faster pace in 2024 – another 0.3% just last year.
Of the ten biggest CBSAs nationwide, only Phoenix continued to see a net domestic migration gain through 2024 (+0.2%). This highlights the CBSA’s continued draw as a (relative) relocation hotspot even in 2024’s cooling market.
Who are the domestic relocators heading to Phoenix?
From October 2020 to October 2024, the top five metro areas sending residents to the Phoenix CBSA each registered median household incomes (HHIs) of $73K to $98K – surpassing Phoenix’s own median of $72K. This suggests that many of those moving in are arriving from wealthier, often more expensive metro areas – for whom even Phoenix’s high-priced market may offer more affordable living.
Overall, domestic migration patterns appear to have cooled in 2024, reflecting economic and societal trends that have slowed the rush from pricey coastal hubs to more affordable regions. Yet states like South Carolina, Idaho, and North Dakota – as well as metro areas like Phoenix – continue to attract new arrivals, paving the way for evolving regional demographics in the years to come.
In today’s retail landscape, consumer behavior is influenced by a multitude of factors, directly impacting the success of products and brands. This report explores the latest trends in value perception, shopping behavior, and media consumption that impact which brands consumers are most likely to engage with – and how.
In the apparel space, consumers continue to prioritize value and unique merchandise.
Analysis of visits to various apparel categories reveals a steady increase in the share of visits going to off-price retailers and thrift stores at the expense of traditional apparel chains.
And the popularity of off-price chains and thrift stores appears to be widespread across multiple audience segments. Analyzing trade area data with the Experian: Mosaic psychographic dataset reveals a clear preference for second-hand retailers among both younger (ages 25-30) and older (51+) consumer segments. Meanwhile, middle-class parents aged 36-45 with teenagers – the “Family Union” segment – are significantly more likely to shop at off-price apparel stores, highlighting their emphasis on buying new, while saving both time and money.
This suggests that the powerful blend of treasure-hunting and deep value, central to both the off-price and thrift experiences, is driving traffic from a variety of audiences, and that other industries could benefit from combining affordability with the allure of unique products.
Diving deeper into the location intelligence for the apparel space further highlights thrift and off-price’s broad appeal – and that a combination of quality and price motivates consumers to visit different retailers.
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom visitors that also visited a Goodwill or Ross Dress for Less increased significantly.
And while this could mean that the current economic climate is causing some higher-income consumers to trade down to lower-priced retailers, it could also be that consumers are prioritizing sustainability and seeking value in terms of “bang for their buck” – shopping a combination of retailers depending on the cost versus quality considerations for each purchase.
Consumers increasingly expect to shop on their own terms, opting for a more flexible shopping experience that blurs the lines between traditional retail channels and categories.
Superstores and warehouse stores, for example, often evoke the image of navigating aisle after aisle of nearly every product imaginable – a time-consuming endeavor given the sheer size of their stores. But the latest location intelligence shows that more consumers are turning to these retailers for super-quick shopping trips.
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of visits lasting less than ten minutes at Target, Walmart, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Sam’s Club, and to a lesser extent Costco, rose steadily – perhaps due to increased use of flexible BOPIS (buy online, pick-up in-store) and curbside pick-up options. These stores may also be seeing a rise in consumers popping in to grab just a few items as-needed or to cherry-pick particular deals to complement their larger online shopping orders.
This trend highlights the demand for frictionless store experiences that allow visitors to conveniently shop or pick up orders even at large physical retailers.
And the breaking down of traditional retail silos isn’t limited to big-box chains. Diving into the data for quick service restaurants (QSR), fast casual chains, and grocery stores indicates that more consumers are also looking for new ways to grab a convenient bite.
Since 2019, grocery stores have been claiming an increasingly large share of the midday short visit pie – i.e. visits between 11:00 AM 3:00 PM lasting less than ten minutes – at the expense of QSR chains. This suggests that consumers seeking quick and affordable lunches are increasingly turning to grocery stores to pick up a few items or take advantage of self-service food bars. Notably, the rise in supermarket lunching hasn’t come at the expense of fast-casual restaurants, which have also upped their quick-service games – and have seen a small increase in their share of the quick lunchtime crowd over the past five years.
While some of QSR’s relative decline in short lunchtime visits could be due to discontent with rising fast-food prices, it’s clear that an increasing share of consumers see grocery and fast-casual chains as viable options during the lunch rush.
In 2025, tapping into hot trends and creating viral moments are among the most powerful tools for amplifying promotions and driving foot traffic to physical stores.
Retailers across categories have successfully harnessed the power of pop culture collaborations to generate excitement – and visits – by leaning into trending themes. On October 8th, 2024, for example, Wendy’s launched its epic Krabby Patty Collab, inspired by the beloved SpongeBob franchise. And during the week of the offering, the chain experienced a remarkable 21.5% increase in foot traffic compared to an average week that year.
Similarly, Crumbl – adept at creating buzz through manufactured scarcity – sparked a frenzy with the debut of its exclusive Olivia Rodrigo GUTS cookie. Initially available only at select locations near the artist’s concert venues, the cookie was launched nationwide for a limited time from August 19th to 24th, 2024. This buzz-driven release resulted in a 27.7% traffic surge during the week of the launch, as fans rushed to get a taste of the star-studded treat.
And it’s not just dining chains benefiting from these pop-culture moments. On February 16th, 2025, Bath & Body Works launched a Disney Princess-inspired fragrance line, perfect for fans of Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Moana, and Tiana. The collaboration resonated, fueling a 23.2% visit spike for the chain.
While tapping into existing pop-culture trends has the ability to drive traffic, so does creating a new one. Analysis of movie theater visits on National Popcorn Day (Sunday, January 19th, 2025) shows how initiating a trend can spur social media engagement and impact in-person traffic to physical retail spaces.
National Popcorn Day was a successful promotional holiday across the movie theater industry in 2025. Both Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres offered popcorn-based promotions on the day, but Cinemark’s “Bring Your Own Bucket” campaign, in particular, appears to have spurred a significant foot traffic boost during the event.
Visits to Cinemark on National Popcorn Day in 2025 increased 57.5% relative to the Sunday visit average for January and February 2025, as movie-goers showed off their out-of-the-bucket popcorn receptacles on social media. Clearly, by starting a trend that invited creativity and expression, Cinemark was able to amplify the impact of its National Popcorn Day promotion.
Location intelligence illuminates some of the key trends shaping consumer behavior in 2025. The data reveals that value-driven shopping, demand for flexibility across touchpoints, and the power of unique retail moments have the power to drive consumer engagement and the success of retail categories, brands, and products.
