The State of Moving Movement of People in the U.S.
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Introduction and Methodology 4
Where People Are Moving & When 6
LOCATION 8
MONEY 10
COMMUNITY 14
LOVE 16
Ways People Move — DIY vs. Hiring a Pro 18
Conclusion 19
ApPendix 20
The State of Moving Report 3 Introduction and Methodology The United States is a nation built on movement. From the Pilgrims to Manifest Destiny to Who are these vagabonds? And what drives them? To answer Fusing together hard data and conversation analysis, we were #vanlife, the country’s citizens do not stay in one place for long. They move for new jobs or the these questions, and to better solve the problems they face able to discover some pretty fascinating things. For starters, during the process, we conducted a study into not just where people tend to move for one of four reasons: chance at a fresh start. Some pursue love. Others are searching for their own slice of paradise people are moving, but why they are moving and how they feel — whether it’s the woods, an island, or a big city. along the way.
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1 3 5 $ We studied nearly 2 million We exported these Three human analysts then online conversation snippets conversation snippets (in read through tens of thousands located in the United States within this case 2.3 million mentions of rows within each discrete the past twelve months by creating from June 2018–March segment to create the insights what’s called a Boolean query 2019) from our conversation informing this report. in English looking for personal aggregation solution. pronouns within 10 characters of “classic moving statements.” Love Community
1 2 3 4 5 6 As with any study, a lot of the fun comes from insights we prominently in the migration patterns of those leaving their didn’t expect. It was pretty amazing to watch these four states due to the cost of living—and the reaction of the current factors collide and create unintended consequences, showing residents of those states. that nothing in life occurs in a vacuum. This was seen most
2 4 6 We then refined the query Then, we used the natural After that in-depth social media until 99% of our result is actually language processing model analysis, we dug deep into about people moving house and known as the LDA algorithm to every bit of hard data we narrowed the filter to United segment these conversations could get our hands on; census States bios and people located in into discrete topics, as well data, moving reports, studies — the United States. as further machine-driven you name it. emotions analysis.
*For more details on how we built this study, check out the Methodology section in the Appendix.
The State of Moving Report 4 The State of Moving Report 5 Where People Are Moving & When What time of year are people Forbes Magazine, in a look at “American Migration,” cited that around 40 million Americans most likely to move? — roughly 14% of the entire population — move domestically each year.1 According to the 2018 And how long does the process take? Migration Report, Idaho is the current leader in inbound moves.2 Illinois is the current leader for The peak moving season each year is from April to September.4 outbound moves and has topped the outbound move list four times since 2014. The map below In our social media conversation analysis of the past 12 months, we found shows the highest inbound and outbound states, as well as some of the top cities people are 87,933 conversations on Twitter specifically around when people move. We found the top three months to be:5 moving to.3 New * TOP CITIES3 TOP INBOUND STATES2 TOP OUTBOUND STATES2 Jersey 34% 32% 20% 80% of the 40 million April June July people who move 63% each year do so during Seattle, WA *Percentage of people talking about 4 Seattle, WA moving during these months. peak moving season. NET MIGRATION RATE: Idaho Illinois Pennsylvania 5.58% From Decision to Action — the Speed of Moving5 PROS: 72% 69% 61% People tend to make this major life decision fairly quickly. Strong job market From the social conversations we analyzed, we found that: and high score for Boise, ID desirability Maryland 90% Move within one month Tennessee Boise, ID 58% Arizona NET MIGRATION RATE: 62% 22% Denver, CO Make the change 7.77% 67% in just two weeks PROS: New construction Myrtle Beach, SC A number of factors impact how long it takes and plentiful to complete the physical move itself, including:6 outdoor activities North NET MIGRATION RATE: Carolina 17.41% PROS: Denver, CO 61% Myrtle Perfect for retirees Beach, SC and a pleasant climate NET MIGRATION RATE: California South Distance How many Amount Amount Carolina Charleston, of move odds and ends of furniture of help 5.67% SC you have PROS: 64% Charleston, SC Flourishing job market Austin, Tx 63% and high desirability NET MIGRATION RATE: Orlando, FL 7.97% PROS: Additional How many stairs Amount of items Top inbound Top Outbound Fort Myers, FL Strong tourism market pickups you have to go that have to be and affordable housing and stops up and down disassembled and States2 States2 reassembled Percentage of people Percentage of people moving into state. moving out of state. On Average, people complete their moves in the following time frames:7 Austin, TX Orlando, FL Fort Myers, FL w Idaho 72% w Illinois 69% Studio or one-bedroom apartment: 2 days NET MIGRATION RATE: NET MIGRATION RATE: NET MIGRATION RATE: w Arizona 67% w California 64% Two-bedroom house/apartment: 3-4 days w South Carolina 63% w New Jersey 63% 10.09% 9.28% 14.42% Three-bedroom home: 5 days w Tennessee 62% w Pennsylvania 61% PROS: PROS: PROS: Large number of tech companies Strong tourism industry Proximity to the beach and Four-bedroom home: 7 days w North Carolina 61% w Maryland 58% and a thriving job market and pleasant climate social events in the metro area
The State of Moving Report 6 The State of Moving Report 7 LOCATION Social Media Analysis: Data Set Demographics People don’t just consider their personal connections and professional opportunities when they move, but the location as well. What’s the weather like? Is the landscape captivating? Does it Gender Average age inspire an agreeable lifestyle? These factors come together to define the location, one of the biggest reasons why people choose some places over others. 40 Female Male 45.30% 54.70% Average years of residency A Quick Look 8.17 In the 2 million social media conversations we analyzed:5 Relationship & family Location Location t ype status (top two) East Coast: South: Urban 18.57% 28.39% 61.06% 45,090 CO mentioned moving to Colorado, 1010 with 56% of them being female, Suburban making it the most mentioned West Midwest & Alaska and 28.32% state to move to Married/ Single male Coast Southwest Hawaii Rural committed w/no Colorado ranks in the relationship children 14.29% 38.75% 0.91% 10.61% top 10 52.17% 15.15% thanks to its healthiest states, 58,332 low obesity rates and its very mentioned wanting to move active culture8 to a warmer climate
“7 years ago we sold our “Moving to Colorado was “I built a house in the house and everything in it and the best thing that could’ve mountains during the winter moved into our boat with two happened to me.” with one other person. It 3,422 kids in the Florida Keys. I don’t — Posted on Twitter took us six months. We set of the 58,332 who mentioned out on a road trip, but ended moving to a warmer climate regret the move. We live in paradise, and we are just fine. up engaged in this insane specifically named Florida as building project instead… All The kids go to a great school, an ideal destination we wanted was a warm, dry we take trips and do things- place in the mountains.” just not as much as I’d hoped.” — Posted on Reddit — Posted on Reddit
9 out of 25 of U.S. News & World Report ’s best places to move are in Florida3
The State of Moving Report 8 The State of Moving Report 9 $
Social Media Analysis: MONEY $ Data Set Demographics Whether pursuing that new job offer, looking to purchase an affordable home, or retiring somewhere with a lower cost of living, people move for financial reasons throughout their entire Gender Average age $ lives. With employment, investment, and retirement such huge aspects of modern life, it’s not surprising that money so often dictates where people are heading, as well as why. It’s not as 41.66 romantic as following your heart, but sometimes you just need to follow the dollars and cents. Female Male 47.35% 52.65%
Relationship & family Location Location t ype A Quick Look status (top two) East Coast: South: Urban Based on our social media conversation analysis 22.79% 18.97% 60.44% $50k The majority of these Suburban 27% $ commenters earn mention “wallet” reasons more than $50k a year West Midwest & 26.27% Married/ Single female Coast Southwest Rural as a motivating factor for $100k committed w/no moving from the coasts5 and have a net worth relationship children 30.09% 30.09% 13.29% $ of more than $100k 57.95% 18.38%
Average age of someone $500k wanting to move for money reasons is with homes worth 5 41.66 more than $500k 5 $ years old
“Moved 1.5 years ago: my “I can only speak for NY since I “Moving from New York to 75% 2,660 property taxes are 40% lower, live here but that’s the reason Florida saves much more of those citing “wallet” mention differences in the overall cost of living is why a lot of people are moving than just taxes. The Cost Of $ reasons for moving are living space between lower, and my commute is 30 to Texas/Florida. Cost of living Living and Quality Of Life Democrats (Learn more locations on either Coast mins vs. 2 hours to NYC. One of has skyrocketed in NY—dollar is far superior in Florida! I about this topic in the and the Midwest5 the best decisions of my life. doesn’t go as far for NY than it personally made the move following section!)5 I gave myself a raise just by would in other states. Big issue back in 1992. I have never moving.” for NY now. Mass exodus due looked back.” — Posted on Twitter to taxing/cost of living.” — Posted on Twitter — Posted on Twitter Those with household incomes above the median $ $50k are more likely to move $ for job-related or other “wallet” reasons9
$ The State of Moving Report 10 The State of Moving Report 11 $
60,000 $ people moved Unfortunately, moving for your wallet can sometimes bite from California to Arizona you in the behind. People who moved to these cities saw a $ corresponding increase in cost of living from 2017 to 2018:10 last year
=1000 Colorado Springs, Colorado 36%
Austin, California’s Millennial Texas 34% Population Loss is Arizona’s Gain We saw a noticeable trend of millennials moving en masse to Arizona, which makes sense Fresno, when you see that Arizona is the number two inbound state in terms of population migration.2 California 31% The highest percentage of This is supported by Meyer’s A study by Edelman Intelligence this migration is from nearby Research’s 3rd Annual drives the point home further10 California11 due to:12 Millennial Study13 Fort Worth, Texas 28% Cost of 2 1 living Virginia Beach, $ Virginia 29% AZ Tx
Strict regulations Sacramento, on businesses Arizona was the second A majority of Californians California 27% state listed on the Millennial Desirability Index (MDI), (55%) behind only Texas. are considering moving $ out of the state because $ High income tax of the high cost of living.
$ Millennials are even more $ likely to flee California — 63% say they want to.
$ The State of Moving Report 12 The State of Moving Report 13 COMMUNITY With politics defining not only a person’s beliefs but often At a time in our history with so much political 77% their lifestyle as well, trends have emerged in relation to of liberals favor urban divide, the added force of migration patterns where people choose to live. For instance, people with liberal communities, is upping the tension. beliefs are gravitating to urban centers, while people with conservative views tend to prefer the suburbs or rural areas. while
75% of conservatives favor more spacious environments.
Top 5 Inbound States Top 5 Outbound States Let’s Put it Together A Quick Look Social Media Analysis: 1 1 Idaho — Republican 1 Illinois — Democrat In analyzed social Data Set Demographics conversations, the Based on our social media 2 Arizona — Republican 2 California — Democrat overwhelming majority conversation analysis: 3 South Carolina — Republican 3 New Jersey — Democrat $ of people who cited cost Gender Average age of living as a reason for 4 Tennessee — Republican 4 Pennsylvania — Republican moving were Democrats. (first time since 1988 79,441 5 North Carolina — Republican mentions of moving to Republicans have won) a new location because Female Male 52.67 5 Maryland — Democrat 2 Census data shows four of political reasons5 35.44% 64.56% of the five states with the highest outbound Average age is migration numbers are 5 Relationship & family Democratic states — and 53 the fifth was onlynarrowly status (top two) won by Republicans — the first time in 28 years. Married/ Single male committed w/no children 3 Both social conversation relationship and hard data show people 60.08% 15.70% are predominantly moving to Republican states. 65% 88% 57% Location Location t ype East Coast: South: Urban 4 Census data shows ALL FIVE of the top inbound 20.52% 27.21% 51.16% migration states are 5 5 Republican. are male are white are married with Suburban children5 West Midwest & 32.21% 5 Social conversation shows Coast Southwest Rural A LOT of grumbling and 17.80% 34.47% 16.62% !!! unhappiness over the influx of liberals in those Republican states.
The State of Moving Report 14 The State of Moving Report 15 LOVE Social Media Analysis: Data Set Demographics Next time you walk down the street, take a look at the first five people you see. Chances are at least one of them has moved Nearly 1 in 5 Number of survey Gender Average age for love and there’s also a good chance they would do it all respondents who have over again.9 Perhaps even more surprising, there’s a fairly good moved for love, according 36.56 chance that person moved more than 500 miles to be with their to Homes.com’s 2017 Female Male significant other. Talk about moving for reasons of the heart! Moving for Love Survey.16 74.44% 25.56% Average years of residency What’s more interesting is that across 7.47 multiple analysis routes, we found that moving for love has proven to be much A Quick Look more successful than not. Relationship & family Location Location t ype status (top two) East Coast: South: Urban 60% 38.59% 14.96% 62.2% of the people whose conversations involved Suburban moving for love are now married or in a long- 1/3 Women of people who moved for are more likely to move West Coast Midwest 25.98% term relationship 9 5 Married/ Single female love did so more than once for love than men Rural committed w/no 18.11% 28.34% This is reinforced by Homes.com’s relationship children 11.81% Moving for Love Survey: 58.21% 29.01% 70% 500 M of the people said their move for love was successful 44% 57% of those who move for love of people who move for love “Moved continents for “I quit my job of 4.5 years and “When I was 22 in 2004, I move 500 miles or more9 say they would do it again9 someone I met online. Would moved to another country to moved across the country recommend, A+, five stars, be with my LD boyfriend. At from the SF Bay Area to the would move again,” the time I was convinced it Boston area. I had met a — Posted on Reddit was the right thing to do, but I guy who was relocating in 2 took a number of precautions months, and I decided to go $ regardless - getting a solid with him on a total whim... job offer before moving, we had some pretty major savings, back-up plans. The adjustments to make. But we The majority of people who move “I moved across the country relationship itself didn’t work still live in Boston, we’ve been for love rent an apartment, while from New York to Washington. out (in a rather spectacular married for over 11 years, we My SO and I had been long manner), but everything else have a 9-year-old son, jobs distance for two years (we met did. The new country, new job, we like and a robust group of 25% online), and we had talked are so confident in their choice, new house, new boyfriend are friends... There are things we about who was going to move they skip renting and buy a home all improvements over the old miss, and it certainly wasn’t for a while...I really love living in in their new location9 stuff. I’ve been here for almost easy at first, but this was very Washington, and being able to 3.5 years now, and it’s great.” much the right choice for me, live with my partner is amazing. — Posted on Reddit and I’m grateful that I did it.” I don’t regret the move.” — Posted on Reddit — Posted on Reddit
The State of Moving Report 16 The State of Moving Report 17 Ways People Move — DIY vs. Hiring a Pro According to AMSA data, out of 3 million interstate moves, 650,000 people took advantage of professional moving services. One million of them rented a moving truck to make the move easier, while 1.35 million did a DIY move without the assistance of professional movers or a moving truck.17
“Professional movers offer high-quality services and quality comes at a price. The price, however, is not as high as it may seem and movers are not as expensive as you may think. In fact, hiring movers is worth every penny you spend.”7 — Posted on mymovingreviews.com
Definitely a passionately divided issue, the cost of moving is a major concern for people, as is While people complain about cost, they the perceived value at times: are often happy with their decision:
“I have gotten quotes from “The cost of the move is really “Paying professional movers moving companies (space in dependent on how much rather than relying on people semis) anywhere from $1100- weight you are moving. If you you don’t know well is worth 1700 for the same inventory of have a lot of weight it will cost the money.” my one bedroom apartment. more, if you don’t, it will cost — Posted on Twitter I’ve asked so many questions less. With that in mind, though, trying to figure out hidden the people I saw who have the costs and to be best prepared most problems were those with for the day of the move, but I moves under $3000. Under can’t find a single company $3000 is extremely cheap for SOURCES “Paying movers sounds 1. forbes.com 9. livability.com I believe to be trustworthy most moves.” expensive and not worth it — Posted on Reddit 2. northamerican.com 10. cnbc.com so far.” until you get to sit back while — Posted on Reddit they do all the work 3. realestate.usnews.com 11. kgun9.com but seriously, moving sucks 4. help.movinglabor.com 12. aei.org so kudos to them.” 5. The State of Moving Conversation 13. azbigmedia.com — Posted on Twitter Analysis: Section Breakdown PDF 14. washingtonpost.com 6. apartmentguide.com 15. sciencing.com 7. mymovingreviews.com 16. homes.com 8. grandparkco.com 17. moving.org
The State of Moving Report 18 The State of Moving Report 19 Appendix Overall Social Media Conversation Methodology We create a Boolean query in English looking for personal people located in the United States. We then export these pronouns within 10 characters of “classic moving statements.” conversation snippets (in this case 2.3 million mentions from We find these “classic moving statements” by running multiple June 2018-March 2019) from our conversation aggregation test queries so that we weed out other ways the word solution. We then use the LDA algorithm to segment these “moving,” “moved,” “move,” as well as other words used for conversations into discrete topics, as well as further machine- moving house, are used in non-moving contexts. We refine driven emotions analysis. Three human analysts then read the query until 99% of our result is actually about people through tens of thousands of rows within each discrete moving house. We narrow the filter to United States bios and segment to create the insights informing this report.
Methodology for Specific Sections Going with the Pros The DIY Approach Reddit allows us to map out the development of more in-depth Some Twitter examples include: discussions about a particular topic. As part of our search on w Twitter Search Collecting additional social media anecdotes and comments Collecting additional social media anecdotes and comments Reddit, we looked at SubReddits focused on lifehacks, how- w https://twitter.com/search?f=images&q=uhaul&src=typd) about moving companies is important because it allows us to about moving companies is important because we wanted to tos, AskReddit, and IAmA. construct a stronger narrative based on shared experience. understand “the story about moving” that commentators are w Uhaul Interacting With a Customer A sampling of the Reddit threads we surveyed include: This collection of shared experiences, in turn, will enable us telling. Plotting out “the story of moving” being played out on w https://twitter.com/RachelMcK17 to draw more comprehensive conclusions about how moving social media lets us craft a business narrative that speaks to w Hacks for Moving status/1121867903962427394 companies are perceived in a broader context, and what the issues and concerns of commentators and w https://www.reddit.com/r/lifehacks/comments/1vp1rc/ w Another Sample of Twitter Moving Truck Comments solutions can be taken to encourage positive outcomes and potential customers. req_hacks_for_moving/ mitigate challenges. w https://twitter.com/search?q=%23movingtruck&src=typd In order to access relevant comments and content, we w How to Move Long Distance Cheaply In order to access relevant comments and content, we searched for comments about DIY moving on both Twitter and w https://www.reddit.com/r/howto/comments/4huyvl/ searched for comments about moving companies on both Reddit. Twitter provides us with more immediacy and allows how_to_move_long_distance_cheaply Politics is Personal Twitter and Reddit. Twitter provides us with more immediacy us to build a “snapshot” of the social media landscape. We ran and allows us to build a “snapshot” of the social media queries on specific hashtags like #movinginjuries, #UhaulSucks, w Moving Hacks? We researched social media commentary related to recent landscape. Our research on Twitter included, but was not and #helpme move. w https://www.reddit.com/r/lifehacks/comments/2ycwh2/ political news to drill down deep into the idea that people limited to, surveying specific accounts related to moving (i.e., moving_hacks/ might take action and relocate based on political views. A sample of the search results we were able to pull from https://twitter.com/themovingcost), searching for specific Assessing these social media comments is important because Twitter include: w What are Tips/Tricks for Making Moving Easier? hashtags (i.e., #moving, #relocation, #movingsucks, etc.), w https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/45fq71/ it provides context and establishes how much of an impact and reviewed tweets, likes and comments of various Twitter w DIY Moving reddit_what_are_tipstricks_for_making_moving/ politics has on migration from an aspirational standpoint. commentators both private and corporate (i.e., U-Haul). w https://twitter.com/search?q=diy%20moving&src=typd We also included social media content from the truck rental As part of our search, we used a series of terms using words Reddit allows us to map out the development of more profound w Moving by Myself companies, especially specific responses to customers, to add associated with politics, including Trump, Bernie, Democrats, discussions about a particular topic. As part of our search on w https://twitter.com/search?q=moving%20by%20 context and add depth to the story. This is important because Republican, and Government. Reddit, we used some of the following phrases, “Why did you myself&src=typd we want to shed light on how truck rental companies interact move?,’’ Do Your Regret Moving?” “How much does it cost to w Moving Alone with their customers so that we can tell a more vibrant story move?” etc. We also delved into a series of IAmA to uncover w https://twitter.com/search?q=%22moving%20 about what it is like to move using a rented truck vs. hiring a discussions about moving (i.e., https://www.reddit.com/r/ alone%22&src=typd moving company. IAmA/comments/trzvi/i_am_a_professional_mover_ama_about_ moving_tips/).
How much does it #relocation #movinginjuries Moving Alone cost to move? # Do Your Regret Moving?
#moving #helpme move
The State of Moving Report 20 The State of Moving Report 21