People used to pick a business location based on where the customers already were. That logic is breaking down. Remote work didn’t just change where people do their jobs — it changed where they live, and the map of population growth in the U.S. now looks meaningfully different than it did five years ago. Suburbs, small cities, and formerly overlooked regions are absorbing growth that used to concentrate almost entirely in major metro cores.
That shift matters enormously for anyone evaluating a franchise territory. A market that looked thin a decade ago — too small, too spread out, not enough business density — can look completely different today if it’s been quietly absorbing new residents for the past few years. Businesses with a real local presence early can have an advantage over the ones that show up after the market’s already crowded.
This article looks at what’s actually driving the migration, where the growth is landing, and why it’s creating a real opening for home-based franchise owners in markets that used to be considered secondary.
The Old Territory Map No Longer Matches Where People Live
The old assumption — that growth happens in big metros and everywhere else is stagnant — no longer describes the data. According to the U.S. Census Bureau population estimates suggest that the nonmetro (rural) population reached 46.2 million by July 2024, representing 13.6% of the U.S. population, and it has grown every year since 2020 after nearly a decade of losses. That reversal is recent, and it’s still playing out.
Why Remote Work Turned Migration Into a Structural Shift
Remote work removed the one constraint that used to lock people into expensive metro housing: the commute. Once a job no longer required living within driving distance of an office, a meaningful share of the workforce chose space and affordability over proximity. Research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 2024 on the geographic and economic implications of working from home found this shift is reshaping city and regional economics in ways that are still unfolding — not a short-term pandemic blip, but a structural change in where economic activity is landing.
The Suburbs Are Absorbing the Growth
Suburban areas are where most of this migration has actually landed, not far-flung rural towns. According to 2026 migration research published by Offerpad, 53% of movers chose suburban areas, and remote households spent 7% or more on housing than comparable non-remote households — trading commute costs for more space. That’s a direct trade: people giving up urban density for room to work from home, and they’re taking their spending power with them.
What This Means for Underserved Local Markets
Markets that used to be considered too small for serious local business investment are now growing fast enough to matter. Population growth in a suburb or small city doesn’t show up overnight in the way a business owner can plan around — it shows up in new subdivisions, new local businesses, and new competition for the attention of people who just moved in. A franchise owner who builds local relationships early may have an advantage, though that depends on effort.
Why These New Markets Need Marketing Help Most
Newly growing markets are exactly where local businesses struggle most to get found. A business owner in a fast-growing suburb is often still running the same word-of-mouth marketing that worked when the town was smaller, and it stops working once the population — and the competition — doubles. That’s the gap you fill as a RedKnight franchisee: local businesses in these markets need real SEO, a real website, and real ad management, and you build those client relationships while RedKnight’s corporate team executes the marketing work behind the scenes.
Choosing a Territory Based on Where People Are Going
The smartest way to evaluate a franchise territory is to look at where people are moving, not where they’ve historically lived. A population growth corridor that looks quiet on paper today may grow quickly, and an owner who builds relationships early may have a head start. This isn’t a guarantee — a territory’s growth still has to be matched with real sales effort and consistent outreach to local businesses. But betting on where the population is heading, backed by real data, beats guessing based on where things used to be.
Ready to Talk About Territory?
Territory is part of the discovery conversation at RedKnight Franchising. The franchise fee is $9,900, and the FDD describes what it includes. RedKnight’s marketing team builds what you sell: You Sell, We Build. Start the conversation to talk through the market you have in mind.