Census Data Show That Americans Are Sticking Closer to Home

The Census Bureau reports that not even 12 percent of the U.S. population relocated over the last year, down from more than 20 percent in 1985 and marking the lowest level since 1948. Part of the decrease in migration can be blamed on the housing market downturn and economic uncertainty, but it also can be attributed to the aging of America and the fact that older people are less likely to pull up their roots and relocate. Even young adults are staying put, with the number of 20- to 24-year-olds changing homes down to 7 percent between 2010 and 2011 from 10 percent between 2005 and 2006. Brookings Institution demographer William Frey says college graduates tend to relocate based on employment opportunities; but with home prices on the decline, many they have been forced to stay put. “To see college graduates stuck in the mud does not bode well for what they can contribute [to the recovery],” he notes. Of those who moved in the last year, 67 percent stayed in the same county, and only 1 percent relocated due to foreclosure or eviction. While 60 percent of U.S. residents live in the state where they were born, only 40 percent of residents in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and the District of Columbia are natives. | Read More