Credit to: Naomi HIllmer, January 5, 2026.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — For every person that moves away from Knoxville, nearly two more are moving in.
That’s according to a recent study by ‘moveBuddha’ who predict Knoxville will be the most moved-to city in 2026.
“We’re from West Texas originally and we have four seasons here. That was a big draw for us. But the schools were another thing, when our kids were still in school. That was a big draw,” said residents Kimberly and Kevin Whitman.
Despite moving here years ago, the reasons the Whitmans moved to Knoxville are still true today, and more people are following in their footsteps.
“Probably going to be more people coming in. We have a lot of family in California and they’re already talking about coming here,” said Kimberly Whitman. “I think it’s just going to keep getting worse because it’s a great place to live. And you can’t blame people for wanting to get out of the problems that they’re in and get into something better for their families.”
According to local realtor Steven Hensley, many of his clients hail from Texas, California, or Florida, and are seeking a lower cost of living, less taxes, and more opportunity.
“People are moving here with these giant corporations that are actually changing and moving their headquarters here. Also, the work from home jobs are still somewhat prevalent,” Hensley said. “So people are able to take those higher incomes, and able to work from home. So they have to move here to get and save. So we don’t have those state income taxes.”
Besides a number of big businesses calling East Tennessee home, another draw to the area Henley said is right downtown, giving residents something to do on any given day of the week.
“New restaurants, new businesses, new hotels, new condominiums coming down. It’s like as soon as something gets torn down, it gets built right back up,” said Hensley. “The downtown population has really grown, and it’s becoming very popular to go in there because there’s just so many unique restaurants and things to do now that, if you look back 10-15 years ago, we really didn’t have.”
But while this attracts more people, it changes the city many have grown up in.
“I’m welcoming the culture of it,” said Anna Anderson. “I love how we’re becoming more of a melting pot of, like a lot of different places and opinions and whatever. But I think also I did kind of prefer the less traffic and all that before.”
While there are a lot of people moving to Knoxville, Hensley said the number of people coming in has slowed since the Covid-era. But he does expect there to be a lot of activity for buyers and sellers this spring as interest rates have hit a 15-month low.
