Top Moving Statistics And Trends To Keep An Eye Out For (2024)

According to 2021 Census Bureau data for moving rates, just 8.4% of Americans moved in 2021, down from 11% in 2017, and the downward trend is expected to continue for now. Here’s how the numbers break down.

Moving Rate

For the past five years, the moving rate has steadily declined from roughly 34.9 million residents to just over 27 million in 2021—a drop of about 1.6 million persons moving per year.

• Despite the falling numbers, moving has been in recent news discussing the steady flow of residents from northern states to the south. The reasons given for moving range from economic and cost of living advantages to political motivations and to find warmer weather. A significant number, 17%, moved in the past few years to be closer to family or to move back home, while 16% of the total moved across state lines since 2019.
• Regionally, the Northeast had seen a general decrease in population during the few years leading up to 2021. However, in 2021 the Northeast and Midwest experienced a net population loss of over 360,000 residents, and the trend is continuing.
• During the same year, western states experienced a net population gain of approximately 108,000 net residents, while southern states took on a net increase of over 250,000 residents.

States With the Highest Moving Rates

While regional numbers tell one story, at the state and city level, things get even more interesting.

• Florida and Texas experienced the highest influx of people in 2021 at around 221,000 and 170,000, respectively, while Arizona, North Carolina and South Carolina together saw about 246,000 people move in.
• Dallas, Houston and Phoenix were the top destination cities in Texas and Arizona.
• Californians, in large numbers—to the tune of over 367,000 residents—left the state, primarily to southern states, including Texas and Arizona. New York followed closely behind with a loss of roughly 352,000 residents, while Illinois saw over 122,000 leave the state.

Moving Differences Over Time

• Until recent years only a small percentage of Americans moved to a different state each year. In 1988, 3.2% of Americans moved to another state. By 2018 the percentage was down to just 1.5%.
• However, 2019 through 2021 changed all of that. Permanent address changes across state lines jumped to over 10.2 million, or 3.3% yearly.
• Over the same period, roughly 84% of movers stayed within the state, and nearly half of those remained in the same city.

Although, from the large numbers of people migrating long distances, it seems that everybody’s leaving, in reality, most moves are happening locally.

Local Moving Statistics

Roughly 84% of local moves occurred without leaving the immediate area. 7.5% of those left their cities but remained in the surrounding area. Metropolitan centers saw reductions of nearly 5 million people who packed up and left for the suburbs.

Almost 60% of local movers generally stayed within county lines, while almost a quarter left the county but stayed within their states.

Long-Distance Moving Statistics

Long-distance moves within the same state saw a general percentage increase of just over 1% year over year since 2017. 2021 saw just over 23% of movers leave for more distant destinations without leaving the state, according to Census Data.

Interstate Moving Statistics

Over the past five years, around 16% of movers left their resident states, which is near the levels experienced in the late 1980s, but about twice the average percentage of the few years preceding 2018.

International Moving Statistics

Although the U.S. government doesn’t officially track emigration numbers, an estimated 9.4 million Americans live abroad, according to the Census, and the percentage of movers each year that leave the country is between 2% and 2.5% of the total.

Understanding where people move to and from helps create a picture of moving industry economics.

• The cost of moves within the city or the suburbs within 100 miles for American consumers averaged $1,400 per move, ranging from $800 to $2,500 and included a two-person moving crew.
• Long-distance moving costs range from $600 to over $10,000. Prices vary widely between the best long-distance moving companies and the services provided, in addition to the size of your move.
• Long-distance and interstate moves often require vehicle transportation of one or more automobiles. Moving a vehicle over distance averages approximately $1,000, primarily dependent on distance.
• Choosing full-service moving and add-on options increases the average moving cost range to between $2,200 and $5,700.
• Hiring a moving crew costs between $25 and $50 per mover per hour. Or, an average of between $200 and $400 for local moving labor, not including additional expenses such as fuel and distance charges, moving supplies and add-on services.
• Specialty moving involving crating and transporting valuable or fragile items increases the cost by an average of $400 to $2,000.
• Just 23% of movers choose to hire a moving company for full-service moving. Meanwhile, the remaining individuals perform mostly DIY moves using their own equipment or by renting a truck or storage and moving containers.

Persons in their 20’s move most frequently and for a wide variety of reasons. Those in their 30s and 40s are more likely to transition from shorter-term renting to longer-term owning their homes and are less likely to move often. The necessity for more than one income in the family can also hinder mobility in the name of continuing employment. Persons over 50 and retired tend to move less than other age groups.

Motivation for Moving

The reasons people choose to move can be challenging to pin down and are highly personal. Most respondents to various inquiries state that warmer climate, political environments, being closer to family and finding more affordable housing were the main drivers of all types of moving, according to a Forbes Home survey.

The overall economic picture in the United States is experiencing unprecedented unpredictability. Interest rates have been up, making mortgage lending less attractive to would-be movers. However, these interest rates should be leveling off and are expected to come down over time, and experts tend to agree that housing prices will continue to fall—What that means for moving remains to be seen. Overall, expect to see moving rates continue to shrink at least slightly in the near term.

“It seems we have already reached the bottom of the low home sales activity,” says Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting for the NAR. “And with mortgage rates stabilizing near 6%, we expect the housing market to turn around in 2023 … and rebound in 2024.”

Bottom Line

The rate of people moving has been steadily declining each year for the past several years. However, the type of moves and destinations has shifted, at least for now. The pandemic was instrumental in allowing flexibility in where people choose to live and why. That trend is continuing to some extent but slowing due to higher interest rates and a general settling-down period.

Demographically, the same groups of people who tend to move most often are still doing so. But, while local moving remains king, long-distance moving saw a significant jump recently.

Though the reasons people move can be elusive, more freedom in terms of how people make a living and where has allowed a general shift toward generally warmer and less crowded (generally) areas to live.

Seeherefor more statistics.