Postal Service changes of address and mail forwarding analyzed by Bloomberg.Ī year into the Covid-19 pandemic, after much speculation about emptied downtowns and the prospect of remote work, the clearest picture yet is emerging about how people moved. Moves like Goodman’s from the pricey Bay Area to another California city were popular pandemic-era journeys, according to data on U.S. The couple bought their first home in Sacramento in March, helped along by low interest rates. “There’s nothing really tethering us to San Jose or the Bay Area, plus it’s just so expensive that there’s no real feasible way for us to have a lifestyle and survive,” said Goodman.

Her job went remote, her boyfriend got laid off and leaving the city started making more sense. After moving to San Jose for grad school in 2009, a job and a boyfriend kept her there. Sarah Lorraine Goodman always wanted to settle down in her hometown of Sacramento, California, but life got in the way.