As Americans left major cities in droves in search of wide-open spaces during the pandemic, small, ‘relatively obscure’ towns saw the largest influx of new residents, according to Pew, citing US Census statistics and Stateline analysis of postal address changes.

“People were already coming here in hordes, and then it just exploded in the pandemic,” said Lynne McConnell, housing director for Bend, Oregon. “More would be coming if we had housing to accommodate them.”

Affluent workers who could do their jobs remotely had an easier time moving to far-off areas, especially places like Bend that aren’t commutable. Before the pandemic, people moved mostly for a new job, but since then moves have become more about comfort and lifestyle factors such as good neighborhoods, home ownership, climate and recreation, said Peter Haslag, an assistant finance professor at Vanderbilt University who studied pandemic moves.