Moving reasons

The desire to move to a better location or structure was why roughly four out of 10 (43.7%) Americans changed addresses between 2009 and 2010, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Other reasons for moving, according to the “Geographic Mobility: 2010” report were family concerns (30.3%), such as a change in marital status, employment needs (16.4%) and other factors (9.5%).

In 2010, 37.5 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the U.S. within the past year. At 12.5% in 2010, the mover rate was not statistically different from 2009.

"Mover rates differ by characteristics, such as age, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, income or even whether the housing unit is owned or rented," David Ihrke, survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, said in the statement. "Tracking mobility allows us to examine shifts in demographic trends in the population for the nation, regions and metro areas as a whole."

The data are from the 2010 Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide. Statistics from surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.

OTHER SURVEY FINDINGS
• In 2010, 69.3% of all movers stayed within the same county, 16.7% moved to a different county in the same state, 11.5% moved to a different state, and 2.5% moved from abroad to the U.S.

• By region, people in the Northeast were the least likely to move, with a mover rate of 8.3% in 2010. The Northeast was followed by the Midwest (11.8%), the South (13.6%) and the West (14.7%). The mover rate for each region was not significantly different between 2009 and 2010.

• Principal cities within metropolitan areas experienced a net loss of 2.3 million movers, while the suburbs experienced a net gain of 2.5 million movers.

• Of the civilian population 16 and older who were unemployed, 19.8% lived in a different residence one year earlier compared with 12.4% who were employed. Among those not in the labor force, 9.5% lived in a different residence one year earlier.

• Generally, people with incomes below the poverty line were more likely to move than those just above the poverty line. In 2010, 23.6% of people with incomes below 100 percent of the poverty line had moved within the last year as compared with 16.5% of people with incomes between 100 and 149 percent of the poverty line.

• The black alone population had the highest mover rate (16.7%), followed by Hispanics (15.6%), Asian alone (13.9%) and white alone not Hispanic (10.8%).