Malpern --
The best available data on moves is from the U.S. Census Bureau, which
has been tracking move information for decades. They track it by
percentage of people who move each year, so there's an excellent time
series of information (by year -- and not just every 10 years).
Americans have long been known to be mobile, with roughly a move every
5 years. But this may disappoint you: we're moving less -- even
though we're moving longer distances.
Specifically, the most-recent report says "The overall moving rate has
remained constant, but people moved longer distances. Overall moving
rates have not changed substantially over the past few years, and the
1999-2000 rate is among the lowest rates found in the past decade."
Census data indicates that 17 percent of the population moved in 1990,
while only 16.1 percent moved at the end of the decade. Inasmuch as
older people move less than young people, it helps explain why.
The latest report is "Geographical Mobility" (May, 2001) and it
contains details for the past decade:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p20-538.pdf
Historical reports on moving are on the Census page, "Geographical
Mobility/Migration":
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/migrate.html#cps
In its press release on the latest mobility report, the Census Bureau
notes, ""In recent years, mobility rates have changed little or not at
all and
in fact, the overall drop since the 1950s and 1960s has been only
around
4 percentage points."
The press release, "Moving Rate Among Americans Declines,
Census Bureau Says"
(Jan. 19, 2000) is available here:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-10.html
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
