Why Record Numbers of Americans Are Considering a Move to Europe
How fresh incentives, shifting politics, and the allure of new horizons are coaxing successful Americans to convert what was once a traveler's dream into their own long-term story.
On a grey January morning in 2023, a tech-startup founder from Colorado opened a browser tab titled “Austrian Elective Residency Visa — Requirements.” In the next room, his wife was researching immigration lawyers and skimming apartment listings. Their two children were still asleep, yet the decision was made: 2023 would be the year the family crossed the Atlantic. Six months later, we landed in Salzburg, Austria, to begin our European life.
The story above is mine. And we’re no anomaly. A recent Harris Poll found that 42 percent of U.S. adults, and 63 percent of GenZ, have seriously considered leaving the United States either permanently or for an extended period to improve quality of life or financial security. Among higher-income households, the pull is stronger still. New World Wealth projects that 142,000 high-net-worth individuals will relocate in 2025, with Europe receiving a disproportionate share of that flow.
Television talk shows often mock celebrities who promise to leave America if one politician wins or another policy passes. Commentator Bill Maher once quipped, “America has big problems, but it doesn't need quitters; it needs people who’ll stay and fix it.” A convenient observation for a TV monologue. And yet it’s very short-sighted.
I once believed migrations like ours from the United States to Europe were driven primarily by fear, anger, or the other drivel Maher rails against. In the two years since we chose Europe as home, I have learned that many Americans are moving toward Europe rather than away from the United States.
These individuals are looking for opportunity, cultural fit, and a new blend of ingredients that make up what they believe is life well lived, as a result of what they’ve accomplished in their lives.
So what are American’s moving toward if they are considering a move to Europe, whether for a year or a lifetime?
From Plan B to Business Plan
For entrepreneurs, executives and other industry experts, Brussels is rolling out a red carpet on behalf of the European Union’s 27 member states. A €10 billion “Scale-Up Europe” Fund invites entrepreneurs to build the continent’s innovation pipeline, while trimming the bureaucracy that once drove many European founders Stateside. And at the individual country level, some of the highlights include:
Greece is halving personal-income tax for ten years under its “50 percent rule.”
Portugal’s new IFICI regime grants a decade-long break on select foreign income for scientists and entrepreneurs.
Spain’s Entrepreneur Law offers four-year permits to company builders.
France’s Tech Visa fast-tracks founders, employees, and their families into residence cards that double as work permits.
Across the EU, Switzerland and the UK, similar programs are sending a clear message to itself, and Americans: geopolitical volatility has become a wake-up call and an invitation to import entrepreneurial expertise. (We’ll be providing links to all these programs and incentives in future posts, don’t worry!
Europe’s Brain-Gain Moment
For academics rich in intellectual capital but light on stock options, another magnet pulls. In May 2025, Brussels unveiled Choose Europe for Science, a €500 million talent-attraction scheme for academics, scientists and researchers.
“The role of science in today’s world is questioned,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the program’s the launch in Paris. “We need to offer the right incentives to make Europe a magnet for researchers.”
The journal Nature reports that Horizon Europe grants have risen by up to 50 percent for principal investigators willing to move their labs to EU campuses. Meanwhile, U.S. university leaders warn of a “coming brain drain” as politics and budget cuts batter American research, grants, programs, and staffing.
Permission to Dream in Public
Beyond headlines, pundits, and surveys lies a quieter motive that I think about often: permission to dream in public. I’ve heard parents who have made the move talk about raising children who are bilingual by playground age. Artists who praise Vienna’s rent-controlled studios as safe-havens for their creativity without sacrificing basic needs of living. Retirees who rave about Florence’s high-quality healthcare costing less than their U.S. Medicare-supplementary premiums. And entrepreneurs who find municipalities dangling grants, resources, and coworking lofts to give the tools and incentives they need to grow.
And everyone, it seems, lets their footsteps drift, down cobblestone alleyways and shaded avenues where SUVs remain rumor and push alerts a forgotten dialect.
There’s a myth that you have to ‘give up’ America to gain Europe. But after living all the plusses and minuses and speaking with others who have made the same transition, it clear that’s not the case. In reality many, like my family, are finding they are reducing risk and adding optionality: a coming renaissance in opportunity and resources; more disciplined, less politically motivated school systems; a second language; a second passport pathway. And a second lens on history.
Paperwork Yoga (and Why It Is Worth It)
Visas and other paths to entry to Europe involve a fair amount of “paperwork yoga.” U.S. tax rules follow citizens and their assets worldwide; and finding the right school can feel like speed-dating in a second language. Our own journey from browser-tab research to Austrian permanent residency took six months of questionnaires, apostilles, and politely obsessive follow-ups.
But the payoff? A slower cadence, a richer daily existence, and a broader horizon, all of which more than offset the administrative slog.
That is this site’s mission: to equip the curious with the information, resources, and community needed to write their own European chapter, whether for a sabbatical year or a lifetime.
Mobility: The Ultimate Luxury
Europe may never eclipse America’s dynamism, yet a growing slice of Americans see mobility and choice as the ultimate luxury. Mobility hedges politics, diversifies assets, and expands the family mind-map. If the forecasts hold, 2025 will mark the moment when a European chapter shifts from cocktail party whim to mainstream strategy.
This site aims to transform curiosity into confidence, questions into answers, and dreams into reality. Expect city dossiers, visa checklists, tax-treaty explainers, timelines, templates, e-books, and first-person dispatches from families already on the ground.
If your browser history looks anything like mine did two years ago, consider this your invitation to dream in public. And begin writing your story.
 | A guest post by
|