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Migration to and from Orange County, California

Where Orange County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).

Total inflow
145,334
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
137,085
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+8,249
inflow minus outflow

Top 10 counties people moved IN from

OriginState / RegionPeople (5-yr)
Los Angeles CountyCalifornia38,761
Asia15,564
Riverside CountyCalifornia9,536
San Diego CountyCalifornia6,978
San Bernardino CountyCalifornia4,437
Europe3,403
Central America3,021
Santa Clara CountyCalifornia2,442
Napa CountyCalifornia1,710
San Francisco CountyCalifornia1,556

Top 10 counties people moved OUT to

DestinationState / RegionPeople (5-yr)
Los Angeles CountyCalifornia23,839
Riverside CountyCalifornia18,321
San Diego CountyCalifornia8,261
San Bernardino CountyCalifornia7,799
Maricopa CountyArizona5,179
Clark CountyNevada2,451
Santa Clara CountyCalifornia1,935
Alameda CountyCalifornia1,720
Placer CountyCalifornia1,609
Sacramento CountyCalifornia1,373

Explore Orange County

Methodology

  • Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
  • Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
  • "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
  • Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 06059.