Top 10 Countries Americans Want To Move To, According To Study
If you’ve ever dreamed of living abroad, you likely have a favorite country you’d love to move to. As it turns out, many Americans might feel the same.
Online shopping store Ubuy set out to determine the most common countries Americans want to relocate to. Do other Americans share your dream country?
Gathering the Data
Ubuy used Google Keyword Planner to search for the results of “move to + country” and its variations. They also analyzed Google Trends to compare the popularity of the search terms from one year prior. Global safety rankings and each country’s cost of living rounded out the data Ubuy collected to rank the top countries where Americans want to relocate.
1: Canada
Canada is by far the number one country that Americans research relocating to. Our northern neighbor is over ten times safer than the US and has about an 18% lower cost of living. According to Google’s data, 85,000 Americans research moving to Canada.
2: New Zealand
It might sound minuscule compared to Canada’s numbers, but 19,000 Americans research moving to New Zealand, landing it in second place. People who end up calling themselves Kiwis enjoy living in the second safest country in the world and saving an average of 19% on the cost of living compared to the US.
3: Australia
According to Ubuy’s findings, Australia is the third-most sought-after country where Americans want to relocate. The Land Down Under received 18,700 Google searches at the time of the study and is nearly five times safer than the US.
4: Spain
Spain is the first non-English-speaking country to make this list. It’s a strong competitor for second language speakers or people wanting to learn Spanish, as the cost of living in Spain is almost 23% lower than in the US. It’s also about four times safer.
5: Portugal
Portugal makes Spain look expensive, with a cost of living that’s about 30% lower than in the US. The Western European country receives an average of 17,000 Americans searching on Google to relocate there. Portugal is the sixth-safest country in the world.
6: Germany
Twelve thousand Americans research relocating to Germany. Those who take a leap of faith will find themselves living in a place that’s, on average, 11 times safer than the US. Germany appears to be trending, with a 3% increase in Americans researching about moving there.
7: Mexico
Between Mexico’s proximity to one’s friends and family in the US and having a 61% lower cost of living than the US, it’s easy to see why some Americans choose to relocate there. But like anything that seems too good to be true, expats will need to exercise increased caution, for Ubuy notes that Mexico is the only country on this list that’s more dangerous than the US.
8: Netherlands
Circling back to Europe, about 11,000 Americans search Google about relocating to the Netherlands. With shops selling yummy poffertjes on seemingly every street corner and the Netherlands ranking six times higher on the Global Safety Rankings, American expats are in for a literal treat.
9: Bali, Indonesia
Ubuy states that the Indonesian island of Bali is the ninth-most desired place that Americans want to relocate to. The small tropical paradise is popular with tourists and digital nomads alike. American searches about relocating to Bali increased by 3% over a one-year period, perhaps driven by the island’s 46% lower cost of living compared to the US.
10: Greece
Greece squeezes into the top ten countries Americans want to relocate to, with 4,000 people researching the southeastern European country. Over the last year, search interest jumped 6%. Greece’s 18% lower cost of living compared to the US is undoubtedly attractive, but its ranking as the 55th safest country in the world isn’t as attractive as most options on this list.
Number of Americans Living Abroad
According to the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, there could be around 5.4 million Americans living abroad. The United States Census Bureau doesn’t account for people abroad, so it’s hard to determine just how many American expatriates are out there.
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