The Physician Migration Report
Where America's doctors live vs. where they buy — 2026 mid-year edition
More than a third of physician homebuyers — 38% — are buying in a different state than the one they live in today. Doctors are among the most relocation-driven homebuyers in America, and the flows are lopsided: a handful of states are absorbing physicians while others lose them.
The Headline Numbers
of physician buyers purchase outside their current home state
Florida — largest net inflow of any state
Colorado — largest net outflow (then IL −20, NY −14)
the single busiest physician relocation corridor
Winners and losers
Net physician-buyer migration (inbound − outbound):
STATES GAINING DOCTORS
Florida
+
43
Oregon
+
11
Georgia
+
8
Arizona
+
8
Wisconsin
+
6
STATES LOSING DOCTORS
Colorado
−
22
Illinois
−
20
New York
−
8
Washington
−
8
Michigan
−
6
Sun Belt and affordable Mountain/Midwest states pull physicians in; high-cost coastal and expensive-metro states push them out. California and Texas are net-neutral (±1) but see enormous two-way movement — CA 61 in / 60 out, TX 42 / 42 — doctors reshuffling within them without the state gaining or losing ground.
The busiest corridors
Top physician relocation corridors, shown as a share of each destination's total inbound movers:
Nearly 1 in 5 doctors relocating to Florida comes from New York, and Colorado feeds both Texas and California.
Where doctors train ≠ where they settle. Only 44.7% of physician buyers purchase a home in a state where they went to school — the majority leave the state that trained them. The three biggest training-to-buying flows all start in New York classrooms. For hospitals and medical schools, training a physician in your state is, at best, a coin-flip for keeping them as a resident homeowner.
How far above the local market doctors buy
The physician premium — the median physician's target price ÷ the typical local home value (Zillow ZHVI, June 2026):
Doctors in affordable states reach far above the typical local home; in expensive coastal states the premium compresses toward the local norm.
Why it matters
Real estate. Physicians are a high-income, high-intent, relocation-heavy segment — 38% are inbound out-of-state buyers who need a trusted agent in a market they don't live in yet. Florida, Georgia, Arizona and the Carolinas are the demand sinks.
Hospital recruiting. Housing is relocation friction. States losing doctors recruit against a homebuying-cost headwind; retention starts at the closing table.
Lending. A third of the physician-loan pipeline is cross-state — borrowers financing in a state they don't yet reside in, often before employment starts.
This is one chapter of the Physician Home Buying Index™ — Dr. Home Finance's monthly read on how, where, and what America's doctors buy.
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Methodology. Based on Dr. Home Finance network records, 2025–2026. Migration figures reflect the 1,585 records with both a current location and a purchase state known; the training cut reflects the 952 with both a school location and a purchase state. The physician premium uses Zillow Home Value Index state values (June 2026). All figures are aggregate and de-identified; cohorts below 5 are suppressed; internal test records excluded. As of July 21, 2026. Dr. Home Finance is a research and matching service, not a lender or broker. Not financial, legal, or mortgage advice; verify all figures independently.