- Mobility is steadily falling: In the 1900s, nearly one in three Americans moved each year. Then, by the 1960s, it was one in five. In 2024, only about one in nine people changed residences.
- A historic low: Last year, only 11% of the entire population relocated nationwide as Americans move less and less.
- Few make big moves: Of those who did move, only 19.3% changed states in 2024, compared to 20.1% the year before.
The idea that people should be free to choose their communities, rather than remain tethered to where they were born is a distinctly American concept. This means that, for much of its history, the U.S. was unmatched in its level of geographic mobility with both interstate and same-state moves showing people’s desire to do better. In fact, in the 19th century, nearly one third of Americans moved each year, often to seek better opportunities in the form of better jobs, better education, better housing.
But, throughout the last 50 years, mobility started losing momentum. Today, Americans move far less than they once did: According to the latest U.S. Census residential mobility data analyzed by Point2Homes, 11% of people (or 37,045,761 residents) changed their address in the past year. That’s a dip from 14.3% ten years prior and a big slip from the 20% who were changing residences each year in the 1960s.
How Does Declining Mobility Affect the U.S. Economy?
The economy benefits from variety and risk-taking. Accordingly, reduced mobility signals the opposite, meaning stagnation and a lack of initiative. Falling mobility also affects economic resilience by limiting labor market flexibility, slowing wage growth and potentially reducing innovation as workers are less likely to move for better opportunities.
Many decry Americans’ loss of mobility and Deputy Executive Editor of The Atlantic and author of “Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity,” Yoni Appelbaum, is chief among them. He states that Americans had always been seeking to move up by moving on, and that the slowdown in interstate and intrastate mobility is bringing about stagnation in more ways than one:
The sharp decline in geographical mobility is the single most important social change of the past half century. In that same span, fewer Americans have started new businesses, and fewer Americans have switched jobs — from 1985 to 2014, the share of people who became entrepreneurs fell by half. More Americans are ending up worse off than their parents — in 1970, about eight out of every 10 young adults could expect to earn more than their parents. – Yoni Appelbaum
Why Are Fewer Americans Moving Today?
American mobility rates have declined to historic lows due to a combination of factors, including economic and job-related uncertainty; rising housing costs; and the increase in remote work flexibility, which reduced job-related relocations. To that end, the national mobility rate dropped to 11% in 2024, the lowest level recorded since the Census Bureau began tracking this data in 1948.
Aside from the increase in quality of life, which removes people’s pressing need to up and leave to find or build a better life, there are other factors that contribute to the steady downward trend in residential mobility rates.
Compared to the beginning of the 20th century, when homeownership rates hovered around 45%, a majority of Americans are now owners: After the fluctuations caused by the housing market collapse and resulting foreclosures from 2008, the national homeownership rate stabilized at around 65%. And, because homeownership is a more stable and permanent housing option, increasingly more Americans becoming homeowners clearly affected mobility rates.
Another reason could be the current economic instability. Not only is the job market more volatile, but home prices also keep increasing, along with borrowing rates. This means more people are reluctant to give up a home to try and find another one, especially if they secured lower mortgage rates during the pandemic.
What’s more, the increase in remote work following the pandemic, which is not as high as during the lockdowns, but has nevertheless remained much higher than before, ensures that many employees can do their job from anywhere without being forced to keep moving to be closer to a new job or to shorten their commute time.
Which States Are Staying Put & Which Are Moving?
The growing trend toward staying put is most obvious in states like New Jersey and New York. In contrast, places like Alaska and Oklahoma continue to see more active populations, with residential mobility rates above the national average.
New Jersey and New York are the two states with the lowest mobility rates in 2024. Specifically, fewer than 10% of the people living here changed their address last year, which could indicate one of two scenarios: Either residents of New York and New Jersey are satisfied with their homes and communities and aren’t looking for a change, or they feel stuck and don’t really see other (better) options out there, be it on a different street or in a different state.
At the other end of the spectrum, Alaskans are the most mobile of all: Nearly 103,000 residents, or 14% of the people currently living there changed addresses in 2024. Whether they simply moved from one neighborhood to another, one city to another or they moved to Alaska from other states, 281 people got a new address in Alaska on each day of last year.
Similarly, Oklahoma, Colorado, North Dakota, Idaho and Nevada are the four other states where residents move more than anywhere else in the States. Approximately 13% of the residents in these states changed their addresses in 2024.
Where Americans Are Moving: States That Attract the Most (& Least) Newcomers
Among those who do move, most are making big changes. Nationally, nearly one in five movers crossed state lines and more than 71% relocated to a different city, a clear sign that Americans aren’t just changing neighborhoods, but often uprooting their lives entirely.
Naturally, some of the most populous states continued to attract large numbers of newcomers: Florida and Texas each saw more than half a million new residents moving in, followed by California with a little more than 400,000.
But, looking at the shares of out-of-state movers, it’s smaller states that shine. As relocation continues to be driven by factors such as housing affordability, milder regional climates and job growth, some states are becoming magnets for out-of-state residents. As such, Wyoming and New Hampshire are attracting a disproportionately high share of new residents from beyond their borders: 36.1% and 35.4%, respectively, of all the people who moved here last year were coming from other states.
From its low sales and property taxes to the fact that Wyoming has no personal or corporate state income tax, it’s easy to see that the Equality State tries to foster one of the most business-friendly environments in the nation. Add to that a relatively low cost of living and more affordable housing, and the recipe for Wyoming’s magnetism becomes obvious.
The same seems to hold true for New Hampshire. Aside from its similarly low tax burden, New Hampshire also offers a high quality of life due to its low crime rates, a great educational system and strong economy with plenty of job opportunities. Its proximity to Boston is also a big plus. That’s why, inspired by a combination of high-paying job opportunities, higher quality of life and access to outdoor activities, no fewer than 48,666 moved to New Hampshire from other states.
Meanwhile, states like California and Texas are seeing much less inbound interest. Although nearly 4 million people changed their addresses in each state in 2024, only 10.9% in California and 14% in Texas were movers from out-of-state.
Likewise, Ohio, Illinois and New York also had very large net numbers of people who moved, so they can be considered among the most mobile states in the nation. But, here again, relatively low shares of movers came in from other states — less than 20% in all three cases.
What Does the Data Show About City-Level Mobility Patterns?
Zooming in to the city level, it’s the same needs, wants and desires that guide movers. Cities like Las Vegas and Mesa, AZ, are drawing large numbers of out-of-state movers, while others (particularly in California, but also in Texas) are struggling to attract newcomers. Whether driven by jobs, lifestyle, or housing options, the data paints a vivid picture of how Americans are reshaping the urban landscape.
Looking at the largest U.S. cities, New York City leads by a significant margin in terms of net numbers: Of the 702,239 people who changed their address in the Big Apple, 143,496 did so by moving in from another state. However, that only represents 20.4% of all movers. By far the most magnetic large city is Las Vegas with 33.1% of all movers coming not just from other cities, but from other states: 26,485 of the 80,024 movers in the city last year came from a different state.
Analyzing the medium-sized U.S. cities, Cape Coral, FL, and Chesapeake, VA, boast the highest shares of out-of-state movers at 41.4% and 40.5%, respectively. That said, another Florida city holds the record for the smallest share of out-of-state movers: In Hialeah, only 0.1% of all the movers crossed state borders to get there.
In the small U.S. cities, no fewer than five are looking at more than 50% of all movers joining the city’s residents from other states: In Union City, NJ, 63.6% of movers are from out of state, followed by The Villages, FL (61.7%); Horizon West, FL (60.5%); Nashua, NH (58.5%); and Madison, AL (50%).
Are Homeowners or Renters More Likely to Move Today?
Renters remain significantly more mobile than homeowners with 61% of all movers being renters and only 39% of the people relocating annually being homeowners. However, both groups are moving less frequently than historical norms.
Moreover, renters are the more eager movers when it comes to both interstate moves and moves across state borders: Of all the people who moved within the same state, 61.5% were renters, whereas of those who moved to a different state, 58.6% were renters.
There are many reasons why renters tend to move more, and why renting is the better option, particularly for young professionals, students or recent graduates. Renters tend to have higher mobility compared to homeowners due to a combination of lifestyle preferences, financial flexibility and external housing factors.
Plus, renting offers greater freedom to relocate at the end of a lease or even sooner, making it an appealing option for people seeking career or educational opportunities or simply a new environment.
In contrast, homeownership represents a more stable and permanent housing situation. As a result, these financial and logistical burdens discourage frequent moves, making homeowners more rooted in their communities and less likely to relocate unless prompted by major life events.
Of course, there are a few states where owners do tend to move almost as much as renters: Looking at intrastate moves, owners in New Hampshire, West Virginia and Maine tend to move almost as often as renters, both having changed homes at least once in the last year.
Analyzing interstate movers, it becomes obvious that Vermont is a special case, attracting both renters and owners equally: The people who moved to this state during 2024 were split evenly between renters and owners. Four other states are very close to having equal shares of owners and renters moving in — South Carolina, Michigan, New Mexico and West Virginia.
Going from state to city level, the most magnetic large cities (meaning those that attracted the most renters from out of state) are San Jose, CA (90.8% of all the people who moved from out of state are renters), followed by Austin, TX (88.9%) and Boston (87.2%).
On the other hand, Fort Worth, TX, is the exception: Here, it’s the owners who dominate with 53.3% of all movers who came in from other states being or having become homeowners in their new city of residence, as well.
Zooming in on medium-sized cities, Hialeah, FL, and San Bernardino, CA, have attracted the highest shares of renters out of all movers who came to these cities from other states. In fact, 100% of the movers who joined these communities from other states in 2024 were renters.
On the other hand, Cape Coral, FL; Chesapeake, VA; Port St. Lucie, FL; Santa Clarita, CA; North Las Vegas, NV; and Virginia Beach, VA, have attracted the highest shares of owners: More than 50%, and up to 80% of all the movers coming from other states are homeowners.
Finally, when it comes to small cities, an impressive number attracted exclusively renters, and the same is true for homeowners. In 26 small cities, 100% of the movers who joined the community in 2024 were renters, whereas in 12 small cities, all of the movers bought a home and became homeowners.
Again, it all likely boils down to the housing assistance programs and opportunities that a city — no matter its size — offers newcomers and existing residents alike. Whether they move with the purpose of finding better housing (looking for a better home or neighborhood); reuniting with loved ones or establishing a new household; or for better job prospects and more professional opportunities, Americans’ residential mobility rates will always reflect their desire to expand and do better.
And, the fact that they’re still moving, but at lower rates than in the past, could mean that either many are satisfied with their current life, or that they don’t believe moving would be the solution.
Methodology
Point2Homes.com is a real estate listing portal for rental homes across the United States. Part of Yardi Systems, Point2Homes covers housing trends and news through comprehensive studies that draw from internal data, public records, governmental sources, and online research.
- This study focuses on Inbound Mobility across the United States.
- We analyzed data from all 50 states and 651 U.S. cities, as reported in the 2024 ACS 1-Year Estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Geographical mobility patterns were examined at both the state-to-state and city-to-city levels.
- We also analyzed mobility patterns based on housing tenure — whether movers were homeowners or renters.
- To calculate mobility rates at the national, state and city levels, we focused on several key factors.
- First, we looked at the total population aged one year and older who lived in the U.S. in both 2023 and 2024 to ensure a consistent group for comparison.
- Then, we measured how many people stayed in the same residence versus those who moved within the country during that period.
- To keep the focus strictly on internal movement, we excluded anyone who moved to the U.S. from abroad, so our results reflect only domestic residential mobility, not international migration.
- The study includes:
- Total number of people who moved within state borders and between states
- Year-over-year changes in geographical mobility, including numbers and shares of movers
- The percentage of the population that moved
- The share of movers who were owners vs. renters
- Cities were grouped into three population-based categories:
- Large cities: 500,000 or more residents
- Medium cities: 200,000 to 499,999 residents
- Small cities: Fewer than 200,000 residents
Image credit: M2020 / Shutterstock.com
Fair use and redistribution
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