Americans Are Moving Abroad Faster Than They Have in Decades. TikTok Is the New Travel Agent.
In a coastal Vietnamese city, a former Hyundai assembly worker from Savannah, Georgia, has built a second career helping other Americans land their first apartment in Da Nang. His story, reported by NPR, is one frame in a much larger picture: an estimated 5 million-plus U.S. citizens now live outside the country, and the path from “scrolling” to “boarding” has never been shorter.
Estimates of how many Americans live outside the U.S. range from roughly 4.4 million to 9 million, depending on the source, though Greenback’s deep dive on this question shows the long-cited 9 million State Department figure is quietly being phased out, with newer estimates from the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, American Citizens Abroad, and the Federal Voting Assistance Program clustering closer to 5 to 5.5 million. What every dataset shows, regardless of the headline number, is the velocity.
Census data shows that 2025 marked the first net-negative migration year for the U.S. since the 1930s, with roughly 150,000 more people leaving than arriving. Citizenship renunciations jumped 102% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. And in the 24 hours after the November 2024 election, Google searches for “how to move out of the country” climbed 800% to 1,514%, depending on the dataset.
This is not a fringe story. It is one of the most significant demographic shifts of the decade.
By the Numbers
Look beyond the topline figures, and the same story shows up at every layer of the data.
- The American population in Southeast Asia has nearly tripled over the past generation, from roughly 32,000 in 1990 to about 88,000 by 2024, according to regional census figures cited by NPR. Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines absorbed the bulk of that growth.
- Applications for British passports by Americans hit a 21-year high. More than 1,900 applications were filed in the first quarter of 2025, the most since the U.K. Home Office began keeping records in 2004.
- Spain’s digital nomad visa is the fastest-growing program in Europe. Applications climbed roughly 40% year over year, and coworking providers in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia reported a 28% rise in foreign bookings since January 2026. Spanish consulates in the U.S. and U.K. are quietly extending processing times to keep up.
- Visa infrastructure has nearly doubled. More than 55 countries now offer programs specifically designed for remote workers, up from roughly 30 in 2021.
- Phones are ringing off the hook at relocation firms. Immigration advisory firms that handled one or two American inquiries per week in 2023 now report up to five per day.
The signals are coming from passport offices, consulates, coworking floors, and search bars simultaneously.
Where Americans Are Heading
The destinations break down into three roughly defined zones.
Mexico remains the gravitational center
Estimates put the U.S. population in Mexico between one and two million, the largest American expat community on earth. Proximity, climate, lower healthcare costs, and a familiar time zone keep Mexico in first place. Mexico City, Oaxaca, Mérida, and the coastal Yucatán have absorbed waves of remote workers, retirees, and second-home buyers since the pandemic.
Southern Europe is the fastest-growing zone
Portugal counted 19,258 U.S. citizens as residents at the end of 2024, and U.S. family visa applications to Portugal tripled between 2024 and 2026, according to immigration consultancies. Americans are now the number one nationality applying for Portugal’s D8 digital nomad visa. Spain has surged into the top spot on Immigrant Invest’s 2026 Digital Nomad Visa Index, pushing past Portugal for the first time. Greece, Italy, and Croatia round out the European wave. Greenback’s full breakdown of the best digital nomad visa countries for Americans tracks each program’s income thresholds and trade-offs.
Southeast Asia is the cultural breakout
Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines together host close to 90,000 Americans, up from roughly 32,000 in 1990. Thailand’s new long-term resident visa, Vietnam’s recent expansion of its five-year e-visa, and the popularity of cities like Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang have made the region a TikTok-native hotspot.
A smaller but visible cohort is heading to Czechia, Estonia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Japan, all of which have launched digital nomad or long-stay visa programs since 2022.
What Is Driving the Wave
The pull and push factors are well documented. The data quantifies them.
Money goes further
A monthly lifestyle that costs roughly $7,100 in Tampa runs about $2,280 in Da Nang, a 68% discount, according to cost-of-living comparison platforms. Chiang Mai delivers a similar lifestyle for around $2,641 a month. In Spain, second-tier cities like Valencia and Alicante run €1,500 to €2,500 a month for a quality of life that requires a far higher salary in Boston or Denver. Greenback’s global expat living costs guide breaks down typical monthly budgets across 30+ destinations.
Healthcare costs are a recurring theme
Private health insurance in Spain costs roughly €60-€100 per month, with no copays or deductibles. A comparable U.S. marketplace plan in 2026 runs $600 to $1,200 per month before deductibles. For families, the math gets dramatic quickly.
Remote work is now a default, not a perk
A wave of post-pandemic remote-first roles means many Americans no longer need to find local employment to fund the move. They earn in dollars and spend in dong, baht, or euros. Greenback’s data study on digital nomad jobs and salaries found that aspiring nomads estimate an average annual income of $72,313 is needed for a comfortable transition.
Visa infrastructure caught up
Twenty years ago, the path to legal long-term residency in most countries was either marriage, ancestry, or a corporate transfer. Today, more than 55 countries offer programs designed specifically for remote workers. Spain’s digital nomad visa requires roughly €2,400 in proven monthly income. Portugal’s D8 sits around €3,280. Greece comes in at €3,500, Estonia at €4,500, and Italy at €8,500 per year. Each one is a paperwork pathway that simply did not exist before 2020.
Politics is an accelerant, not an originator
The post-2024 election search spike was real, with New Zealand searches up 7,600%, Germany up 4,200%, and the Netherlands up 3,000%+. But experts at the firms processing these applications point out that most movers cite cost of living, healthcare, and lifestyle long before they cite politics on intake forms. Greenback’s own expat trends survey found financial pressure and the cost of U.S. citizenship topping the list of stated reasons.
Moving Abroad Is a Life Decision. Your Tax Setup Should Match.
The Through Line: A Century of American Moves Abroad
The TikTok era is the latest chapter in a remarkably consistent pattern.
- In the 1920s, the Lost Generation moved to Paris on a strong dollar and a thin job market. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Stein built lives in cafes that felt impossible at home. James Baldwin would follow a generation later for very different reasons but with the same instinct.
- After World War II, U.S. servicemen who had served in Italy, Spain, and Germany returned to settle in those countries.
- In the 1960s and 70s, American artists and retirees turned San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, into a quiet expat capital long before the Instagram era discovered it.
- The 1980s and 90s sent retirees to Costa Rica, professionals to London and Hong Kong, and a wave of teachers, missionaries, and aid workers throughout Latin America and East Asia.
- The 2000s delivered the “Eat Pray Love” wave, with Bali and Tuscany absorbing a generation of Americans looking for reinvention.
- The 2010s brought tech workers to Berlin and Lisbon, retirees to Mexican coastal towns, and remote-curious millennials to Mexico City.
What changes each cycle is the medium. The Lost Generation had ocean liners and letters home. Post-war movers had Pan Am brochures. The “Eat Pray Love” cohort had bookstore tables and travel memoirs. Today’s expats have visa-comparison reels, group chats with strangers in Bangkok, and TikTok creators who post their grocery hauls in Da Nang. The wanderlust is the same. The distribution channel is faster.
Why This Wave Looks Different
Three factors set the current cohort apart from earlier moves.
- Speed: A creator in Chiang Mai can reach two million Americans before lunch. The path from “I saw a video” to “I priced a one-way flight” can take a single afternoon. Immigration advisory firms that fielded one or two inquiries a week in 2023 are now fielding five a day.
- Demographics: Most current movers are college-educated professionals aged 25 to 45, a profile much closer to the 1920s creative migration than to the 1980s retiree wave. They are leaving the U.S. in their earning years, not at the end of them. Greenback’s research has consistently flagged this group as the largest cohort considering moves abroad.
- Permanence is optional: The digital nomad visa, by design, lets a mover stay for a year or two and then leave. Earlier waves often required real commitment, including selling a house, severing job ties, or marrying in. The current generation can test-drive Lisbon for 12 months and then try Bangkok, with no broken bridge in either direction. Greenback’s guide to planning a successful move abroad walks through the practical decisions that come up well before the flight.
The Reality Check
Cornell University communication professor Brooke Erin Duffy told NPR that the curated content circulating on social media filters life abroad through a glossy prism. The work is real. So is the homesickness, the visa paperwork, the inconsistent Wi-Fi, time zones that ruin a Tuesday morning meeting, and the fact that the camera turns off when the bad days start.
Mia Moore, the former traveler now living in Vietnam, who was featured in NPR’s report, said it took years of gradual exposure before she made the move. The eight-second video is the marketing. The move itself is still a decision people make over the course of months.
There is also the practical bureaucracy. Spanish consulates in the U.S. and U.K. are reporting longer processing times. Portugal ended its real estate Golden Visa in 2023. Spain ended its Golden Visa entirely in 2024. The doors that opened during the post-pandemic remote-work scramble are partially closing again.
A Note Worth Keeping in Mind
A foreign visa is an immigration document, not a tax document. U.S. citizens and green card holders continue to file U.S. tax returns on worldwide income, regardless of which country approves their residency. (Greenback’s primer on digital nomad taxes for U.S. citizens covers the basics for anyone weighing a move.) The IRS does not check Instagram. It checks paperwork. Which, in many ways, is the most consistent thing about every American move abroad, from Hemingway’s Paris to TikTok’s Da Nang. The travel is glamorous. The forms are not.
What is genuinely new is how many Americans are now willing to accept that trade.
Start Your Life Abroad With Your Taxes Already Sorted
The information in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Tax rules are complex and change frequently. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation before taking any action.
