Knoxville needs to be ready for a big influx of new residents as the next “it” city, according to a new study by Move Buddah.  The report was based on move-in versus move-out data and trends during the period from 2019 to October 2025 to predict movement in 2026. Some “hot” cities, such as Austin, TX dropped in the rankings from previous years while others, like Knoxville, leaped to the top.

The report predicts the Midwest is making a comeback — but it’s still “out” for 2026. Instead, Americans are expected to head to mid-sized university towns next year, especially in the South and Southwest.

Knoxville will have the highest in-to-out move ratio in 2026, with 1.61 more newcomers heading in for every person moving away. Knoxville hits all three sweet spots that define the top 25:
11 top cities are anchored by a university, 20 are mid-sized cities, and 13 are in the South or Southwest.

The Top 5, led by Knoxville, are Tulsa, OK, Vancouver, WA, Savannah, GA, and Tucson, AZ (which narrowly edged out Tempe AZ). Nashville (16) was the only other Tennessee city in the top 25.

According to Move Buddah’s analysis of Knoxville:

“In 2026, hikers will find increasingly crowded trails in this city of ~199K residents at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. Along with most U.S. cities, Knoxville has seen its move popularity wane in recent quarters (in the 2nd quarter of 2021, the city welcomed more than 3 in-moves for every move outbound).
That doesn’t mean its current ratio of 1.56 is a sign that its popularity streak is over. Knoxville’s in-moves were second in the country this quarter. And we predict that in 2026, the eastern Tennessee city will surpass Savannah to become the nation’s top move-to city.”

Is Rocky Top ready for the boom in 2026? The city has come a long way from being nicknamed the “Scruffy City” because of a 1980 Wall Street Journal article that doubted the city’s ability to host the 1982 World’s Fair, calling it a “scruffy little city”. 

The city embraced the nickname after successfully hosting the event, which drew 11 million tourists to the Fair, and it has since become a positive and authentic brand. Today, the term is used to describe various aspects of the city, from its arts and music scene to its revitalized downtown, and the slogan “Keep Knoxville Scruffy” is a popular moniker among some locals. 

Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily who was born in Knoxville way before it was cool.