Why Americans Want to Move Abroad: We Asked 208 People and Got Real Answers
I'm Shawna Lum, founder of Move Overseas Now. I moved to Barcelona myself, built a business abroad, and since then I've helped thousands of Americans plan their own move overseas. One thing I hear on almost every coaching call is some version of the same question: “Am I the only one thinking about this?”
You are not. Back in February, I asked our community a blunt question: why do you actually want to move abroad? Not the polished podcast answer. The real one. Three words, max, whatever came to mind first.
208 of you answered. I turned the results into a word cloud, because I wanted you to see the pattern, not just hear me describe it.
This graphic ended up getting picked up by NBC4 Los Angeles, where reporter Lolita Lopez covered the same story, and quality of life, healthcare, and politics topped her reporting too. So this isn't just resonating inside our community. It's a nerve a lot of Americans are feeling right now.
Here's what the data actually shows.
What we asked Americans who want to move abroad
We kept it simple on purpose. Respondents picked from a list of common answers, or wrote in their own words if nothing on the list fit. No leading questions, no multiple choice designed to nudge people toward a “correct” answer. Just: why do you want out?
Most people who took the survey are not living abroad yet. 170 of the 208 respondents, or about 82%, said they're planning a move but haven't made it yet. Only 38 have already relocated. What that means is important: this data isn't hindsight from people looking back on a decision they already made. It's coming from people standing exactly where you might be standing right now, weighing the decision, maybe a little unsure where to start.
Book a call and let’s figure out your best option.
The real reasons Americans want to move abroad
Quality of life wins, and it isn’t close
Quality of life topped the list at 55%, more than half of everyone who responded, and by a wide margin over every other answer. This is where the story most people expect gets flipped on its head.
Here's the thing most headlines get wrong: they treat this as purely a money story. Move abroad, cut your expenses, stretch your retirement check further. That's real, and it matters. But it isn't what's driving the decision for most people. What's driving it is wanting a life that still feels like living, not just a life that's cheaper to maintain.
Politics, Healthcare, and Affordability Round Out the Top Four
After quality of life, the order looks like this:
- Politics: 31%
- Healthcare: 30%
- Affordability: 28%
- Safety: 26%
- Cost of living: 24%
Notice where cost of living lands. Fourth, fifth if you count safety ahead of it. Politics and healthcare access are pulling harder on people's decisions than their grocery bill. That's worth sitting with for a second, especially if you've been telling yourself a move abroad only makes sense once your finances are perfectly lined up. For a lot of people, the financial case is real, but it isn't the reason they started looking in the first place.
The Word Nobody Asked About: Burnout
We didn't put “burnout” on the list of options. Ten respondents wrote it in anyway, completely unprompted.
That's the answer that stuck with me. I hear this constantly on coaching calls: someone tells me they're exhausted, and it's rarely about the job title itself. It's the whole structure of their life. The commute. The fight to get a doctor's appointment. The sense that everything costs more every year and gives back less. Burnout is a small word on the graphic because font size reflects how many people said it, but the weight behind it is real.
Most Americans Haven't Left Yet. That's the Real Headline.
It's easy to look at moving abroad and assume everyone doing it has already figured it out, that there's some club of people who had it easier or braver or more resourced than you. The data says otherwise. 82% of the people who answered this survey are still in the planning phase. You are not behind. You are exactly where most people are.
What This Data Means for Your Own Move
If you've been assuming a move abroad only makes sense once the spreadsheet works perfectly, this is your permission to widen the lens. Quality of life, safety, healthcare access, and a break from constant political noise are legitimate, common reasons people relocate, not a “soft” justification you need to defend with a cost comparison.
That said, the financial piece still matters. A move driven by quality of life still needs a realistic budget, a visa pathway that actually fits your situation, and a timeline you can hold yourself to. Wanting a different life and having a plan to get there are two different things, and the gap between them is where most people get stuck for years instead of months.
A Common Mistake: Waiting for the "Perfect" Reason
Here's where many people get stuck. They think they need one clean, defensible reason to move: purely financial, purely political, purely medical. Real decisions rarely work that way. Most of the people in this survey picked more than one reason, because that's how it actually feels. It's the cost of living and the politics and the healthcare and the low-grade exhaustion, all stacked on top of each other. You don't need to justify your reasons down to a single sentence before you're allowed to start planning.
Why Americans Want to Move Abroad: At a Glance
| Reason | % of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Quality of life | 55% |
| Politics | 31% |
| Healthcare | 30% |
| Affordability | 28% |
| Safety | 26% |
| Cost of living | 24% |
| Peace | 15% |
| Lifestyle | 14% |
| Adventure | 12% |
| Burnout (write-in) | 5% |
The Bottom Line on Why Americans Want to Move Abroad
Quality of life beats cost of living for most people considering a move abroad, and now there's real data behind that instead of just a feeling. 208 people told us themselves, in their own words, three at a time.
If you're one of the 82% who's still planning, still researching, still not sure what your first step should be, you are not alone in this, and there is always a path. The best next step is joining the free Abroad in a Year masterclass, where we'll walk you through visa strategy, budget, and destination in the order it actually needs to happen. Or you can book a call with a relocation advisor on our team to talk through your specific situation.
