Study finds Americans are fleeing to short-term rentals in remote, rural areas during the coronavirus outbreak. Here's where they're going.

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Kayakers in Moab, Utah.

• In an attempt to stave off the coronavirus, Americans are fleeing densely populated cities and increasingly taking shelter in short-term rentals in more remote, rural areas, according to a recent study from AirDNA.
• "When segmenting cities into three buckets - rural, suburban, and urban - the rural category is the only one reporting significant year-on-year gains," the report states. "Suburban is about on par with last year, and urban is negative."
• Here's a look at regions experiencing the highest growth of short-term rentals.
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Anxious Americans eager to avoid the spread of the coronavirus are heading to short-term rentals in remote parts of the country.

According to a recent study by AirDNA - a company that analyzes real-time rental data from hospitality businesses like Airbnb and Vrbo - there has been a "mass exodus away from urban centers" in recent weeks as cases of the coronavirus rise. Though stay-at-home mandates currently active in most states have discouraged travel unless absolutely necessary, that hasn't stopped many from seeking out safe havens in less populated locales

"Alongside the advent of social distancing, we've noticed a similar trend in U.S. vacation rental markets: travelers fleeing urban centers and heading towards homes just outside the city," the report, which looked at week-over-week data from March 9 to March 22, states. "When segmenting cities into three buckets - rural, suburban, and urban - the rural category is the only one reporting significant year-on-year gains. Suburban is about on par with last year, and urban is negative."

However, not everyone has been keen to welcome visitors to their area. After receiving criticism for crowded beaches, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis later shuttered these spaces and suspended vacation rentals for two weeks, telling visitors at the end of March: "If you're in one now, finish and go home."

Likewise, communities in popular vacation destinations like the Jersey Shore and Door County, Wisconsin, are telling outsiders to stay away.

Still, Americans are finding ways to wait out the pandemic outside city lines. See below for a look at regions experiencing the highest increase in short-term rentals due to the coronavirus, ranked in ascending order.

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