Mobility in America Part 2 What Motivates People to Move Reasons to Move: Family
September 15,
2017 by Jane Chero in General 
With Mobility in America at an all-time historical low and only 11.2 percent of people moving from 2015 to 2016, what drives the current movers and leads them to change residence? This is the second factoid in series of four factoids that explores the “why” people have moved since 2000 and takes note of both the growing and declining trends.
The previous factoid gave an overview of the major broad categories of reasons to move; family, housing, and jobs. This factoid centers around family as a major reason for moving.
Both Divorce and Marriage rates have been on a steady decline since 2000 – lowering a “change in marital status” as a key reason for moving. Down from a divorce rate of 4.0 in 2000 (rate per 1,000 total population) to 3.2 in 2014, more people are staying married. On the flip side, less people are getting married – decreasing from a marriage rate of 8.2 in 2000 to 6.9 in 2014.
Luckily more people moved to establish their own households from 2015 to 2016 – up to 12.2 percent of all movers from 10.4 percent in 2016. Although slow to leave Mom and Dad’s home, more Millennials are venturing out on their own and forming households. This increase should continue steadily over next five years as Millennials age.
According to the National Association of Realtors, between 2008 and 2016 America added an average of 835,000 new households per year. For 50 years prior, it was 1.3 million per year.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement