For a second year in a row now, the COVID-19 pandemic has been ravaging the world and wreaking havoc on all aspects of life. 2021 has seen a lot of upheaval and uncertainty and brought about a plethora of significant changes – a major shift in social awareness, a global shift to remote work, a mass shift away from urban cores… These crucial shifts have altered population patterns and formed new relocation trends that will dominate the years to come.
The desire to stay away from crowded places and the increase in remote work opportunities have led millions of Americans to leave densely populated urban areas and move to smaller communities in 2021 – and the historically low mortgage rates have prompted a great number of people to buy their own properties. The process is likely to continue and set the moving trends for the following decades.
Read on to learn some interesting moving facts and statics for 2021 and find out what the relocation patterns in the USA may look like in 2022.
Moving trends in the U.S. in 2021
Whether to get away from the crowds, get more space, or lower their living expenses, around 27 million Americans moved house in 2021 – and most of them moved to smaller cities and towns within their current areas. The reasons are easy to understand and the trends are quite logical considering the lasting effects of COVID-19:
Moving unconstrained by workplace
The pandemic resulted in greater work flexibility and led to a huge increase in remote work opportunities. Statistics show that one in four Americans has been working from home in 2021 – and that number is expected to go up in the next years.
And remote work gives geographical freedom – workers no longer need to live within a commutable distance from their workplace, so they have a free choice of geographical locations for their homes.
As a result, many people have chosen to relocate – whether closer to loved ones or to a place they’ve always wanted to live in, or to a place with a lower cost of living, better amenities, more opportunities, or a more peaceful lifestyle, etc. No longer confined to living close to their workplace, some have even moved to areas they have never considered previously.
The ability to work remotely has given people new “geographical possibilities” for their homes and many have taken advantage of that unique opportunity – to be able to choose where to live regardless of where their employer is located – and moved house. Many more are planning to do so in the next years.
Even if people cannot work entirely remotely, it is anticipated that about 30%-40% of workers will have a hybrid workweek in the future, with some in-person and some remote days. This means that many employees will need to commute only a couple of times a week rather than daily. So, they will still be able to live wherever they want to, unconstrained by their workplace. (Normally, you can’t move to a distant place and commute to your workplace every day. If you only need to be at the office twice a week, however, it’s feasible.)
There is one more important thing to keep in mind in that regard: the widespread availability of remote work opportunities largely eliminates the need to move for work – even if you get a job at a company that’s based in another city or state, if you can do your work remotely, you won’t need to relocate.
Moving to suburban areas and secondary cities
One of the most prevalent moving trends in the USA since the start of the pandemic has been the mass exodus from big cities to smaller towns – and the tendency has been especially strong in 2021.
People had already started to move out of urban cores to areas with a lower cost of living and greener environment even before the pandemic – and that trend only picked up pace when city amenities shut down, offices closed, and crowded places became extremely risky. Urban living lost much of its appeal and became unnecessary and unsafe – but remained just as expensive.
Citizens realized that they could get much more space and much better homes for the same amount of money if they moved away from the central urban areas – and there was no reason to want to live in the inner city anymore. Besides, smaller communities were believed to be safer in the context of an ongoing pandemic. So, people started moving outward – out from the city core to more distant suburbs and exurbs or to satellite cities and nearby towns.
In 2021, about 80% of people who moved house moved from urban centers to suburban counties and secondary cities. They left behind small homes in crowded, expensive areas and got to live in more spacious homes in greener, safer, and more affordable areas – and remained close to the big city.
It’s no wonder then that the places that saw the highest inflow of people in 2021 were suburban areas with lower population density and more affordable housing and areas with lower cost living, adjacent to major metros – according to statistical data, about 90% of suburban counties saw more people moving in than out.
In a word – in 2021, people moved mainly to more affordable, less populated areas in close proximity to a big city.
See also: Moving to the suburbs; Moving to a small town; Moving to the country
Moving to bigger houses
The trend to leave urban core areas was not motivated only by the desire to get more affordable living and to get away from crowded places – it was also driven by the need for more living space.
Because of the ongoing COVID pandemic, people are forced to do everything at home – including work, study, exercise, and entertainment. So, they need more space – space for a home office (or two home offices), space for a classroom (or several classrooms), exercise space, entertainment space, outdoor space, etc. And since many don’t need to live near their workplace anymore, a large number of people have chosen to move to a place where they can spread out and have more room to live.
Experts say that the median size of homes rose in 2020 and the preference for larger homes continued to increase in 2021 – people were searching for homes with room for a home office, larger living rooms, larger kitchens, and more outdoor space. So, many moved to suburban areas – or to the country – where they could afford a spacious home.
See also: Moving to a bigger home
Moving without professional moving help
Quite predictably, the moving house statistics for 2021 show that the rate of DIY moves has increased as compared to previous years. This comes as no surprise, considering the financial uncertainty and various risks associated with the pandemic:
- The need to save for the unexpected led to unwillingness to spend any more money than absolutely necessary, so many home movers chose to do all the hard work themselves rather than pay for professional assistance;
- Most people moved within the same city or state – and local moves are much easier to perform than long-distance ones, so self-moves were a viable option;
- Despite the safety measures adopted by all dependable moving companies since 2020 (virtual estimates, physical distancing, proper disinfection of moving equipment, protective face masks and gloves, etc.), it’s still safer to take care of everything yourself than to let strangers enter your home and handle your belongings.
Must read: Should you hire movers or do it yourself?
So, to sum it all up: The ability to work remotely gave people more freedom of where to live. So, many chose to relocate to nearby locations with more affordable housing and lower population densities – and many decided to move without professional help.
Great Blog!
Thank you for the excellent information we can share with our clients.