The 10 American cities that saw the most residents flee at the height of the coronavirus pandemic

Big cities have been the clear losers of the coronavirus pandemic.

Millions of Americans moved away from urban cores in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The rise of remote work has spurred many to consider searching for more idyllic work-from-home locales that offer an escape from the high cost of city living.

A MyMove analysis of US Postal Service data found that almost 16 million Americans moved between February and July of this year. Mail-forwarding requests made to USPS in that time frame confirmed reports of urban exodus.

The majority of the requests came from the country's largest cities. New York City topped the list, having lost over 110,000 residents just between February and July.

More have undoubtedly left since then, and some of the reported moves were short-term. Overall, temporary change-of-address requests were up 27% in 2020 versus 2019, while permanent change-of-address requests were up just 2%.

While places like New York and California will remain essential to business in the future, other locales are popping up as possibly major new business centers, like Austin, Texas and South Florida. As hundreds of thousands are fleeing Manhattan, San Francisco, Houston and more, thousands are decamping to suburbs. Texas suburbs seem to have gained the most residents.

Here's a look at which cities lost the largest number of residents amid the coronavirus pandemic: 

SEE ALSO: The top 10 places Americans moved to at the height of the pandemic in 2020

SEE ALSO: Are Texas and Florida the new California and New York?

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10. Fort Meyers, Florida

Number of residents lost: 11,889

Population in 2019: 87,103

9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Number of residents lost: 12,833

Population in 2019: 1.58 million

8. Houston, Texas

Number of residents lost: 14,883

Population in 2019: 2.3 million

7. Washington, DC

Number of residents lost: 15,520

Population in 2019: 705,749

6. Naples, Florida

Number of residents lost: 22,100

Population in 2019: 384,902

5. Los Angeles, California

Number of residents lost: 26,438

Population in 2019: 4 million

4. San Francisco, California

Number of residents lost: 27,187

Population in 2019: 881,549

3. Chicago, Illinois

Number of residents lost: 31,347

Population in 2019: 2.7 million

2. Brooklyn, New York

Number of residents lost: 43,006

Population in 2019: 2.6 million

1. Manhattan, New York

Number of residents lost: 110,978

Population in 2019: 1.6 million