Weekly Market Insights
| Annual Geographic Mobility Rates % of Population 1 and Older Moving Each Year
April 26, 2010
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| The percentage of the population that moved in 2008 was 11.9 percent, its lowest rate since the Census Bureau began tracking mobility data in 1948. Preliminary Census data show that the percentage of movers increased last year to 12.5 percent, which is the second lowest rate in the history of the survey. In 1985, by comparison, the rate hit 20.2 percent and was generally in the 18 to 20 percent range from 1948 through the mid-1970s. Low mobility rates in recent years relate to the broad and deep recession that began in December 2007, which doused employment opportunities in nearly all regions of the U.S. and left the unemployed with little reason to move. The stalled housing market also depressed mobility rates as people were unable to sell their homes, which held them in place. A population that is willing to move for job opportunities has been a boon for the U.S. labor market, historically. As job growth resumes and the housing market begins to recover, look for mobility rates to pick up. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Grubb & Ellis |
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Bob Bach is our Senior Vice President, Chief Economist