HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) – Hampton Roads has seen a decrease in young people living in the area, as they are packing up and moving to rural areas due to the rise of remote working and cheaper cost of living.

All of Virginia is experiencing this trend.

“If you look at the first four years of the 2010s, you look at the parts of Virginia outside the three biggest metro areas, places like Charlottesville and rural areas like Southside, and they lost about 10,000 young adults in the first four years of [the] 2010s," said Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the University of Virginia. "Since 2020, they've gained 15,000. So, it's been a real reversal,”

According to an article from Cardinal News, smaller counties and towns throughout the state are seeing a rise in the 25-44 age group.

“You see

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