This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and republished through Rewire News Group‘s partnership wiht the 19th News Network.

People are leaving or avoiding living in states with abortion bans, a new paper shows—resulting in lower rental prices and higher vacancies than in states that protect reproductive rights.

The research—published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit economic research organization—compared housing markets in states with abortion bans to states without those restrictions. They found that between July 2022—the first month after the fall of Roe v. Wade—and June 2025, housing markets with abortion bans experienced a 2.2 percent decline in rental prices, compared to similarly trending markets in states without bans. Rental vacancies went up by an average of 1.1 percent in housing markets with abortion bans compared to similar markets in states without bans.

The paper’s authors concluded that abortion bans had an “economically meaningful and statistically significant” effect on rental markets.

“This combination of findings—falling rents alongside rising rental vacancies—is consistent with a demand shift,” they wrote.

The paper is part of a growing body of research showing how abortion bans are reshaping communities. Other studies have linked abortion bans to higher rates of poverty and higher property crime rates, and found that they may be driving young people to leave their home states. Surveys have shown that aspiring doctors—especially........

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