Ways to Meet New People When You Have Just Moved

Moving is a new beginning for your life in all kinds of ways. However, it can be hard to move away from all the familiar faces, friends, family, and maybe even pets. So you don’t feel completely lost at your new location, we’ve collected some tips to help you meet new people.

Download an app

So-called dating apps don’t necessarily mean you’re looking for someone to date. Plenty of apps are specifically designed to help you meet new people around your neighborhood. A lot of expats and exchange students already use these apps to find people to hang out with, and there’s no reason you can’t too. As long as you’re clear about your intentions (something like “Looking for friends since I’m new in the area” works fine), there will be plenty of people happy to get to know you and show you around the city.

Join a local Facebook group

Nowadays, almost every town has its own Facebook group, and some larger towns even have one per neighborhood. Just join, introduce yourself, and mention a bit about why you’ve recently moved there. While these groups often skew a bit older, you can still meet some genuinely great people and end up befriending them. Friendship doesn’t really have an age limit.

Join a club

This is especially easy if you’re a student. Every university or college offers some form of club where you can join like-minded people and take part in group activities together. If you’re not a student, there are still plenty of events and classes open to the public in most areas — dance classes, cooking classes, or a regular weekly or monthly meetup at a local bar. In most of these settings, you’ll end up paired off or working in small groups at some point, which naturally gives you an easy opening for small talk with the people around you.

Meetup

Speaking of meetups, the website Meetup.com offers a huge range of group activities in your city or nearby. Participation is usually free, and some groups are specifically built for newcomers looking to meet people. If you’re an expat, there are also plenty of groups that show you around, help you learn the local language when applicable, and connect you with locals to build new friendships.

You can search for one of your existing hobbies and pick a nearby location to find similar events close to you. If you don’t have a specific hobby but still want to meet like-minded people, there are also plenty of groups organized around gender, LGBTQ+ identity, or shared professions, all built specifically for meeting up and connecting.

Exercise

It might sound like an odd suggestion, but exercising is a genuinely great way to learn the layout of your new neighborhood while also meeting people along the way. If you go jogging, you’ll spend time outside, run into neighbors, and naturally explore your surroundings as you go. If you head to the gym instead, there will usually be plenty of people around willing to help you learn the ropes. You might even end up finding a regular gym or jogging buddy to check in with every few days. You’ll get fit and make friends at the same time.

Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people while staying productively busy at the same time. Moving can feel genuinely lonely, especially when you don’t know a single soul in your new area yet. Volunteering at an animal shelter, a food bank, a soup kitchen, or similar organizations helps you meet new people, build meaningful connections, and do something genuinely good in the process. You could also visit a local elder care home and simply spend time talking with residents there. Many of them are lonely themselves and tend to have genuinely great stories from their past. Bring them a cup of tea and spend a pleasant afternoon together.

You can also volunteer more informally around your own neighborhood — helping someone clean up their lawn, rake leaves, or shovel snow off a driveway are all small, easy ways to introduce yourself to the people living around you.

Host a potluck

What’s a better way to bond than over food? Using Facebook, Meetup, or another platform, you can put together an event and ask people to bring a dish of their own. Turn your living room into a cozy gathering space and spend an evening full of storytelling, small games, and, of course, good food. If you have specific dietary needs or restrictions, mention them clearly in your invite so you don’t end up with some unfortunate dish choices at the table.

If your place doesn’t feel big enough, or you’re not quite comfortable having strangers over yet, you can also look for existing potluck or dinner events happening nearby instead. You can still bring a dish and join in, just without the added stress of hosting.

Explore your local community

Every city hosts at least a handful of events each year, and some host something weekly. It’s worth finding out what your town has going on and signing up to join. Many libraries also run regular activities you can drop into. Best of all, most of these events are completely free, letting you socialize on a small budget without missing out on much at all.

Host a housewarming

This last one is probably one of the most obvious ways to meet people once you’ve just moved somewhere new. That said, since so much of life happens online these days, actual housewarming parties have become a bit less common than they used to be. Simply invite your new neighbors over for some snacks and drinks, and get to know each other a little. If things click, you might end up building a genuinely great friendship with them, one that could come in handy for plenty of future occasions too.

Give it time

None of these tips are magic — most friendships, especially ones formed as an adult in a new city, take a few genuine interactions before they start to feel real. Don’t get discouraged if the first event or two feels a little awkward or doesn’t lead anywhere immediately. Consistency tends to matter more than any single perfect interaction. Showing up to the same club, class, or group a few times running usually does more for building real connections than trying a dozen different one-off events.

Use your workplace as a starting point

If you moved for a new job, your workplace is one of the most natural, low-effort places to start building a social circle in an unfamiliar city. Say yes to lunch invitations, after-work drinks, or team events, even if you’d normally skip them. Coworkers already share a big part of your daily routine with you, which gives you a running start on conversation that strangers elsewhere don’t offer. Even if none of them become lifelong friends, they can be a genuinely useful bridge into other social circles in the city.

Don’t underestimate small talk with neighbors

It’s easy to treat neighbors as just people you nod at in the hallway, but small, repeated interactions add up faster than people expect. Saying hello consistently, offering to grab a package, or striking up a two-minute conversation about the weather might feel inconsequential, but familiarity builds gradually through exactly these kinds of small moments. Over time, a neighbor you’ve exchanged a dozen brief hellos with is a much easier person to invite over for a coffee than a total stranger.

Conclusion

The first step of meeting new people is usually the hardest part: actually doing it. There’s nothing wrong with feeling nervous or a little insecure going in. The tips above should give you a solid starting point regardless. Just remember that not everyone is actively looking for new friends, but almost everyone genuinely enjoys meeting new people. Be yourself, ask genuine questions, and try to enjoy the process. The rest tends to follow naturally from there.