Many are trapped in their homes, unwilling to trade in a low mortgage rate.
Point2Homes notes Mobility in the US Hits a Record Low.
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 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.
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.
Stuck in Place
The Atlantic comments How Progressives Froze the American Dream by By Yoni Appelbaum
The idea that people should be able to choose their own communities—instead of being stuck where they are born—is a distinctly American innovation. It is the foundation for the country’s prosperity and democracy, and it just may be America’s most profound contribution to the world.
No society has ever been as mobile as the United States once was. No society has even come close. In the 19th century, the heyday of American mobility, roughly a third of all Americans changed addresses each year. European visitors were astonished, and more than slightly appalled.
The American “is devoured with a passion for locomotion,” the French writer Michel Chevalier observed in 1835; “he cannot stay in one place.”
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.
Rent in the CPI
The fact that only 11 percent move in a year (and some of them are homeowners), is why rent prices in the CPI have not dropped as anticipated.
For existing renters, the price of rent is not declining even if it is falling for new leases in overbuilt areas.
The rest of the story can be summed up in a single word.
I N F L A T I O N
Mobility is decreasing because of inflation, bailouts, poor Congressional policies, and poor Fed policy.
Trump exacerbated all of those with inane tariffs sure to drive up prices (assuming there is not an economic collapse first), so take your pick.
I discussed all of the above in Home and Auto Insurance Costs Are Soaring. Are Rate Caps the Answer?
Of course, caps are not the answer but politicians want them.
What’s solution? Please click on the above link for discussion.
Also see It’s Now Twice as Expensive to Buy an Entry-Level Home than Rent
Its immigration. I see this across the region I live in. tts very real
How immigration distorts internal mobility, and why it matters.
If the immigration is stopped, does internal mobility resume? Yes. In 1924, when the United States cut off almost all immigration from outside Northwestern Europe and the Americas, with a corresponding collapse in the number of immigrants, “the loss of immigrant labor was replaced on a nearly one-for-one basis by new inflows of internal migrants, as well as immigration from unrestricted countries” in urban areas (Abramitzky et al, 2021)
‘In short, actually-existing immigration drives locals away, and in the place where this effect is measured best (the United States), it is large enough to fully explain otherwise-puzzling changes in internal migration since 1970. Since immigration to the other countries on the list tends to be less selective, and space is more at a premium (even in Canada), we can reasonably assume the same applies to them.’
https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/fleeing-opportunity
In the 1960 and 1970’s IBM moved my dad around a lot. My dad made 3 moves in 5-6 years. IBM earned the nickname “I’ve Been Moved”.
During that same timeframe, I moved around a lot as well (3-5 yrs), due to my Dads Military Service. Mostly peaceful except “Bay of Pigs” was scary, and some specific locations he was sent to, were not on anyone’s bucket list, but He came Home.
11% doesn’t seem accurate. That means 1 in 10 people moved this year and that is supposedly a low number? I know a fair amount of people and not one has moved. Does this figure include students who move to college and move a couple of times during college? Still even so it seems like an implausilbe number.
There will be a lot of people moving in NYC when Mandani wins the election. Also, more people will be moving out of blue states.
Per Redfin: The median sale price of a home in New York was $875K last month, up 8.0% since last year. The median sale price per square foot in New York is $633, up 8.1% since last year.
“Trump exacerbated all of those with inane tariffs sure to drive up prices”
Yet back in reality, this HAS NOT HAPPENED broadly to-date. You’re creating a narrative out scant evidence.
Be that as it may, it could change, but I seriously doubt it will, outside of a really bonkers trade war with China. The economy appears to be on relatively shaky ground. If inflation doubles like it did in the final four months of 2007, it will end in the same manner, recession. And if it’s anything like the GR, then we’re looking at deflation of a lot of goods & services, not inflation.
Why do you say trapped? I remember a statistic from before about 1970 that the vast majority of people never moved more than 35 miles from where they were born and many continued to live in the first home they bought for their whole lives.
Moving is a PITA. Unless you are unsatisfied with some aspect of where you currently live, staying put is much easier on the pocketbook, children and psyche.
The grass isn’t usually greener on the other side.
Not to worry Mish: the states with the highest homeless mobility rates makes up for the stagnant home moving rates when down an out in Beverly Hills heading for Portlandia. .
.
Which states have the highest and lowest rates of homelessness?Hawaii and New York have the highest rates of homelessness across the 50 states.
Updated Feb. 28, 2025by the USAFacts team
About 771,000 Americans experienced homelessness in January 2024 according to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) point-in-time data, which measures homelessness across the US on a single night each winter. That’s an 18% increase from 2023.
Nationally, approximately 22.7 people out of every 10,000 experienced homelessness during the 2024 count. Mississippi had the lowest rate of homelessness, at 3.5 people per 10,000, while in Hawaii, the rate was more than 20 times that — 80.5 per 10,000.
In the District of Columbia, comprised entirely of the city of Washington, 80.0 people experienced homelessness for every 10,000.
Hawaii and New York have the nation’s highest homelessness rates among states.Homeless population per 10,000 people, 2024
A table showing the states (and Washington, DC) with the highest rates of homelessness per 10,000 people. Hawaii, DC and New York have the highest homelessness rates.
Page 1 of 4
Table with 2 columns and 51 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 15. Sorted descending by column “Homeless people per 10,000” (column headers with buttons are sortable)
Hawaii80.5
80.5
80.5
Washington, DC80.0
80.0
80.0
New York79.5
79.5
79.5
Oregon53.5
53.5
53.5
Vermont53.3
53.3
53.3
California47.4
47.4
47.4
Massachusetts41.1
41.1
41.1
Washington39.6
39.6
39.6
Alaska36.3
36.3
36.3
Colorado31.4
31.4
31.4
Nevada30.9
30.9
30.9
Rhode Island22.0
22.0
22.0
New Mexico21.7
21.7
21.7
Illinois20.3
20.3
20.3
Arizona19.4
19.4
19.4
.
Two years after I came to the US, I said “how do you expect to have cohesive communities if you’re all moving all the time like gypsies“. I was, in my mind, comparing things in the US vs. Europe (we don’t move in Europe, except for work, and that’s only when things are quite desperate).
30 yr mortgage rates are swiftly falling. FHA rate is now 5.9%. Lower rates are the single thing that is going to unfreeze the housing market.
In areas that are still appreciating, expect a big bounce from all the buyers being drawn back to the market. In areas that are declining (Florida, Texas) expect a halt to the decline.
There’s so much pent up demand for buying in most of the country, that any additional supply brought on the market will be swamped with offers.
After seemingly leveling off in 2024, housing prices in the upper midwest decided to go up in 2025, in some areas by more than 10%.
In the area I live (Mass/CT) prices are at crazy high levels and still going up because there’s no inventory. Lower interest rates will just encourage the prices to go even higher, but eventually they’ll result in a more balanced market.
The downvoters are probably Wolf Street readers used to stories of falling house prices.
Sept 2024 to Sept 2025 price per square foot increases: Madison WI + 3.6%, Omaha +4.5%, Chicago +5.4%, Minneapolis +8.3%, Des Moines +9.9%, Milwaukee +5.4%.
I’ll add to the list: Peoria, IL median price up 28.7%, price per square foot up 19.9%. Rockford IL up 11-14%.
How is the permitting process in MA and CT for new residential builds and renovations/additions? Moving a stove in the kitchen where the gas pipe behind it / underneath has to be changed a permit thing over there?
Yes to the permits being strict. New housing in MA/CT is not a thing like it is, say in Texas. It’s a miniscule portion of the housing market here. Much more common is renovation flips of older houses in areas that are being gentrified.
Eventually I think there will be a mass movement outside the US for anyone with a functioning brain. It’s clear that social security, medicare and the rest of the socialism pot is not sustainable in any way, shape or form. Add $40 trillion in debt, soaring inflation and the debasement of the USD and the picture is bleak. Fixed income folks will be crucified, that’s a foregone conclusion and no way to escape it.
It’s why I’m trying to get out next year and avoid the 2030 boomer rush. Countries around the world are already pushing back at too many Americans and Europeans moving into their lower cost countries, eventually they will shut down the border too and end the visa programs.
Got exit strategy?
byeeeeee.
The best return on one’s retirement is by relocating to an area with lower cost of living.
They will shut down the border to American and Europeans huh? LOL
So when will it be ok for us to shut the American border and the EU as well? And evict at least the illegal criminals breaking the law?
So the American and Europeans that want to leave they will at least have money to support themselves but we Americans and Europeans have to take all the free loading islamic loving poor people from all over the world that never want to assimiliate
Got it.
The biggest free loaders are boomers on social security and medicare. You don’t need to take my word for it, you can see the numbers for yourself here.
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/
That’s as of today, the numbers will likely double by 2030 and beyond.
And besides, Trump has deported billions so the free loaders you speak of shouldn’t be an issue anymore no?
Biggest freeloaders are the wealthy. Their wealth stems mostly from nepotism or other politics, using position to skim economic output generated mostly by machine and then using the profits to corner the ownership of everything and to pay for politicians to tilt the playing field ever more in their favor.
The foregoing addresses only one point you made. I agree with some of what you said.
Exactly. The guy you replied to is a huge hypocrite. As a multi-millionaire generating passive income from his assets, he’s the actual parasite on society. Boomers paid into SS/Medicare; they are hardly getting “free money”.
He resents Boomers because he is jealous of them and fears he will never collect on SS, therefore feels he shouldn’t have to “support the Boomers”.
Boomer are getting at least some ‘”free money”. If they had paid in enough over their working lives to finance what they are actually getting in retirement checks now, the SS system would not be forecasted to run out of ‘promised funds’ in 2034.
Sorry, but numbers don’t lie, only liars do
Obviously, the boomers are the ones retiring in droves. They are now currently, or soon will be, drawing on Social Security and Medicare. It’s just a matter of numbers. They paid into the systems and are just claiming what the government had promised them. Free-loaders? I don’t think so.
Yeah, but those same Boomers voted for politicians not to tax them enough in Social Security payments while they were working to afford what they had been ‘promised’
Free loaders? They paid into the system. Its not welfare, but yes I agree it is a social program, hence the name
Trump has deported “Billions”………..Seriously dude, “billions” ???
The left will not let him deport the criminals that are here illegally let alone anyone else
So these illegals that are getting free shit is ok but “boomers” who worked and paid into the SS system are the problem?
Wow……
It appears the powers that be including the Republicans and Trump are fine with and actually want most of the illegal immigrants to stay, otherwise why won’t they pass a law making e-verify mandatory even when they have a majority in Congress and Trump to sign the bill.
Kill ’em off with more Covid Theater. Ventilator, Remdesivir, Morphine and they are good to go. “Ask Your Doctor”
We already have “capital controls”. AKA sanctions.
As these extraterritorial and extrajudicial sanctions worsen, they prevent people from moving their money freely wherever they like. Because people can’t move as easily without taking their money with them, these financial controls also block their physical movement.
An IRA is also a capital control. Want to exit the casino and take your money faster? Pay an extra 10%.
Good point.
Roach Motel
moving is expensive. the end.
Hypothesis (or conspiracy): the doom-and-gloom in the market/economy, while there may be some merit to it, is especially perpetuated by companies in order to keep employees from leaving. There was a lot of job mobility coming out of Covid and companies were losing people to better paying and more flexible opportunities, not to mention those leaving due to retirement. Giving employees a sense of “that’s no longer possible” would certainly keep people from jumping ship quickly.
10 U.S. cities where Americans can afford to live alone
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/20/cities-americans-can-afford-to-live-alone-the-economist-carrie-bradshaw-index.html
Alone and depressed.
Get a dog…man’s best friend.
As Mark Twain once quipped, “The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog”
So, if you bought a home in 2019 for $500k and put $100k down, borrowed $400k, and then you refinanced that $400k in late 2020 at 3.00 percent, you don’t want to leave that mortgage, right? But, between 2020 and spring of 2022, the value of your $500k home went up to $750k. So, now in 2025, you have a loan that is around $380k and should be able to sell your home around $725k to $750, giving you the ability to sell it, pay off your mortgage, and have around $220k to put as a down payment on your next home. The problem is not rates, which are historically “normal”. The problem is prices, and they are coming down now.
= gold nice double top around $4400
it seems we have top for now… it WAS QUITE A MOVE FROM 3400 TO 4400 IN 2 MONTHS. NICE!!
=======
3700 – 50AVG, SO % 10*15*20 corr is good and healthy!!
dont panic.
USA gov deficits/debt are not going anywhere, actually we can see clearly that USA is corned, and can do nothing /w china.
simple soy tariffs broke trump=taco!!! pathetic!!
alx
Agree govts in the USA overspend badly, which is a big problem, but why are the authorities in Russia so touchy about songs?
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/21/singing-these-songs-in-russia-could-land-you-in-jail-a90882
– But, throughout the last 50 years, mobility started losing momentum.
> America has grown in size, and therefore available space, and crowded existing spaces. You become comfortable with your new environment, growing a family, or caring for young but getting older family members for examples. We were looking for that and found it, as times have indeed changed.
>> Safety/Crime has also become an issue, as most cities in America have many issues. Cost, Silence, Crime, Schools, Lack of Law Enforcement, Parks, and the list goes on. Why leave a good situation, and possibly end up in one thats a lot less favorable, than what you already had. Throw in Ownership (capital gains), Taxes, Children’s Friend’s, Expenses and a host of other important issues.
– That’s a big dip from those who were changing residences each year in the 1960s.
> Um 60’s? A List much longer and just as useless, from that era, for comparison purposes anyway.
Why Are Fewer Americans Moving Today?
– No society has ever been as mobile as the United States once was.
> While perhaps true, what does that have to do with today, except perhaps to point out what many other Countries still have awaiting them. Those with money still do in America, all the time.
– fewer Americans have started new businesses, and fewer have switched jobs.
> Don’t compare yesteryear with, TODAY PLEASE…
– in 1970, about eight out of every 10 young adults could expect to earn more than their parents.
> Sounds a tad entitled in thinking, no?
All people contacts, services and products are available to me within scarcely more than walking distance. I do my job with one day per week commute, and this coming year, zero days per week. So, consider technology.
I don’t have a mortgage. I could sell and move to a location with significantly lower prices and property taxes, and have several 100s of thousands of dollars left over to buy toys. What keeps me here is my phobia of some tasteless buyer painting my interior white/beige/grey. A lot of people are like me. A realtor told me last year we would have to repaint the interior and I politely asked her to leave. If they mention open concept? You don’t want to know.
“open concept” saves the contractor costs for fewer walls and a non-existent attic.
5 decades of inflation has taken it’s toll. The new, improved version of medieval feudalism is well established now.
The oligarchs and the top 20% get to move around plenty. Why should techno serfs get to move? There are plenty of them wherever you go. They are just interchanable widgets. This is what the US is now. Move to China if you want a society where thing are happening.
It’s just amazing how much inflation and the blowing of these bubbles does. In our worry in watching the bubbles deflate we create other damage along the way we refuse to see. Oh my we’re all rich with our stocks and real estate….but then oh my we can’t afford to live, drive, insure our homes, use health care, insure against using health care, eat, move to a new location…..
My have the feds and inflation impacted everything. Government involved in every aspect of our lives.
This living is not the same as it was just 20 years ago and massively different than 40 years ago. I can move to a location I prefer but the RE prices I’ve seen recently are all 7 figures now. What the actual f. If you can’t sell one high priced RE for another, you aren’t moving with rates still north of 6.
But hey, we’re all rich now.
One would think that inflation would lead to a desire for a higher income, and therefore higher mobility as folks move to get better paying jobs…
Folks are holding on to their jobs, because there are no other jobs paying even the same, much less better.
Wondering how much demographic changes work into the slowdown. Surely older people, once they’ve retired and settled move less. A lot of premature retirements due to covid would add to this. (Not saying interest rates and housing shortage are not the main factor).