16,000 People Fled Wash Heights And Inwood In 2020: New Study

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — As the pandemic hit New York last year, residents fled Washington Heights in droves, according to a new study by the global real estate firm CBRE.

The study looked at 29 million change-of-address requests filed with the U.S. Postal Service last year, providing insight into which ZIP codes saw the most departures — and where residents went.

New York City, which was already shrinking before the pandemic, had the second-most net move-outs of any metro in the country in 2020, trailing only San Francisco, the study found. Meanwhile, Sun Belt cities like Austin and Charlotte saw population gains.

Within the city, dense, urbanized neighborhoods like Midtown, Lower Manhattan, and Northern Brooklyn lost the most residents.

Across Washington Heights and Inwood's four ZIP codes, more than 16,000 people moved out in 2020, while 9,798 moved in — a net loss of more than 6,500. That's more than double the previous year, when the two neighborhoods had a net loss of about 3,260.

Here is the 2020 move-out data for each Washington Height and Inwood ZIP code:

• 10034 — Inwood: 2,006 move-ins, 3,126 move-outs — net loss of 1,120 residents, or 15 per 1,000 people
• 10040 — Washington Heights/Inwood: 2,033 move-ins, 3,474 move-outs — net loss of 1,441 residents, or 19 per 1,000 people
• 10033 — Washington Heights North: 2,691 move-ins, 4,317 move-outs — net loss of 1,626 residents, or 11 per 1,000 people
• 10032 — Washington Heights South: 3,068 move-ins, 5,501 move-outs — net loss of 2,433 residents, or 15 per 1,000 people

The 10032 ZIP code, covering the southern section of Washington Heights, had the neighborhood's most net move-outs, with 2,433. The figure is almost identical to the Harlem ZIP code with the most net move-outs during 2020, which was 10027's total of 2,481 net-move-outs.

However, the drops in Washington Heights and Inwood were not as steep as those in other parts of Manhattan, like the Upper West Side or Upper East Side, which had even higher move-out rates, or Midtown, whose 10016 ZIP code has the most move-outs of any in New York state.

Most people who moved last year went only a short distance, often to a nearby county, the researchers found. Many of them were affluent young adults who had no children and were able to work remotely.

"The outflow from urban areas likely will subside as normal life resumes and lower rents lure back some who had moved out," they wrote.

Manhattan rent prices, which fell precipitously during the pandemic exodus, have shown signs of rebounding in recent months, suggesting that demand for urban living has begun to rise again.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.