More people are moving into than out of U.S. counties prone to wildfires and floods

More people are moving out of parts of the U.S. where wildfires, floods and extreme heat are more common, a new report from Redfin shows.

The nation’s high fire risk areas saw 63,365 more people move out than outside last year, many of whom moved to Texas. Five Texas counties at high flood risk had net inflows of more than 2,000 people in 2023. All are near Houston, which recently experienced flooding and power outages from Hurricane Beryl along with extreme heat.

Related: California Wildfire Now Fourth Largest State on Record, 540 Structures Destroyed

In California, which has already had a busy and challenging fire season, more people moved out of high-fire-risk areas than moved inland — a reversal from 2022, possibly indicating that people may become from increasingly responsive to fire risk in the state, according to the report from Redfin, a technology-powered real estate brokerage.

A total of 34,170 people left US counties at high fire risk last year – 17,357 of those people (50.8%) left California. That’s up from 41.9 percent in 2022, and California’s high-fire-risk areas had a net inflow of 6,937 people in 2023, according to Redfin.

Related: Hurricane Debby threatens to flood eastern US after hitting Florida

Counties at high risk of flooding in the US had 16,144 more people evacuated than outside. Florida led much of the migration to high flood risk counties, but a smaller share than in 2022, meaning people may be wary of flood risk there.

A total of 219,799 people moved to US counties at high risk of flooding, while 203,655 moved, a net outflow of 16,144 – 53.5% of the 219,799 were people who moved in Florida. Florida’s high flood risk counties had a net runoff of 68,564, the report shows.

Related: CSU research team boosts Atlantic hurricane forecast

According to the report, the nation’s counties with low fire risk saw a net outflow of 38,401 people in 2023, and counties with low flood risk saw a net outflow of 6,892.

About one in 11 people who plan to move soon cited concern about natural disasters or climate risks as a reason, according to a Redfin-commissioned February survey of about 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters. Other answers were more common: wanting more space (32.4%), lower cost of living (26.4%) and being closer to family (16.4%).

The report is based on an analysis of internal migration data from the US Census Bureau and climate risk scores from First Street. Redfin defines a high-risk county as one that ranks in the top 10 percent when it comes to the share of homes that face high risk of fire or flooding.