Moving statistics

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that the national mover rate increased from 11.9% in 2008 (the lowest rate since the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking the data in 1948) to 12.5% in 2009.

According to data from the “Geographical Mobility: 2009” report, 37.1 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the U.S. within the past year. This represents an increase from 35.2 million in 2008.

"Geographical Mobility data not only track mover rates and types of movement, they also provide information on who moves, why, and how far," David Ihrke, a survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said in a statement. "These components help people see variations in the motivation for moving."

OTHER CENSUS INFO
• In 2009, 67.3% of all movers stayed within the same county, 17.2% moved to a different county in the same state, 12.6% moved from a different state, and 2.9% moved to the U.S. from abroad.

• By region, people in the Northeast had the lowest mover rate (8.1%), followed by the Midwest (11.6%), the South (13.7%) and the West (14.8%). All regions except the West, which saw a 1.6 percentage point increase, were not significantly different between 2008 and 2009.

• Principal cities within metropolitan areas experienced a net loss of 2.1 million movers, while the suburbs had a net gain of 2.4 million movers.

• In 2009, renters were more than five times more likely to move than homeowners; 29.2% of all people living in renter-occupied housing units lived elsewhere in 2008. The mover rate of all people living in owner-occupied housing units was 5.2%.

• Of the civilian population 16 and older who were unemployed, 20.9% lived in a different residence one year ago compared with 12.5% who were employed. Among those not in the labor force, 9.3% lived in a different residence one year ago.

• Generally, people with incomes below the poverty line were more likely to move than those just above the poverty line. Last year, 23.6% of people with incomes below 100 percent of the poverty line moved within the last year as compared with 17.5% of people with incomes between 100 and 149 percent of the poverty line.

• Most often, people cited housing-related reasons as their main reason for moving. About 17 million movers (45.9%) said they wanted to own a home or live in a better neighborhood. Other reasons for moving included family concerns (26.3%) abd employment needs (17.9%).

• The black alone population had the highest mover rate (16.7%), followed by Hispanics (15.8%), Asian alone (13.8%) and white alone not Hispanic (10.7%).