{"id":11361,"date":"2014-02-21T10:28:27","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T14:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mymovingreviews.com\/move\/?p=11361"},"modified":"2026-11-12T18:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T22:52:23","slug":"how-often-and-why-americans-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/how-often-and-why-americans-move\/","title":{"rendered":"How Often Do Americans Move, and Why?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-11370 lazyload\" data-src=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/how-often-why-americans-move1.jpg\" alt=\"how-often-why-americans-move\" data-aspectratio=\"450\/300\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/how-often-why-americans-move1.jpg 450w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/how-often-why-americans-move1-300x200.jpg 300w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/how-often-why-americans-move1-400x266.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/>How many times have you moved in the last 5 years? None? Once? More than once?<\/p>\n<p>Moving within the same country is a fascinating and yet complex phenomenon which can have a huge impact on the demographics and the economies of the affected areas. It\u2019s interesting to know how often these relocations occur and what the usual reasons behind each move may be.<\/p>\n<h2>How often do Americans move?<\/h2>\n<p>How often a household moves depends on its circumstances. Moves may be local, interstate or international.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11372\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11372\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11372 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stats-tiles.jpg\" alt=\"The reasons behind each move are much more personal and unique than mere numbers.\" data-aspectratio=\"450\/338\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" data-srcset=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stats-tiles.jpg 450w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stats-tiles-300x225.jpg 300w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stats-tiles-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11372\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The reasons behind each move are much more personal and unique than mere numbers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Housing needs, work, relationships and retirement can all affect the decision. The sections below look at these reasons in more detail.<\/p>\n<h2>Why do Americans move?<\/h2>\n<p>Here are the typical reasons why Americans relocate to other areas:<\/p>\n<h3>Job-related relocation<\/h3>\n<p>Companies, like people, are also trying to cut overhead costs by relocating to another city, state or foreign country. This change means that the company\u2019s employees and their families will also have to move as well if they would like to keep their current jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, finding a better job in another area within the country or abroad is a strong incentive for most to relocate. Or if the commuting time to work approaches or exceeds an hour one way, some people would prefer to <a href=\"\/move\/moving-closer-to-work\/\" rel=\"follow\/\">move closer to their workplace<\/a> than to waste two hours, at least, in traffic every single workday.<\/p>\n<h3>Home becomes too small<\/h3>\n<p>In the majority of cases, the homes of first-time owners feel smaller and smaller with each newly-added family member. And therefore, a move to a larger house with more living space becomes a necessity.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11416\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11416\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11416 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/green-grass1.jpg\" alt=\"The grass could actually turn out to be greener on the other side.\" data-aspectratio=\"450\/356\" width=\"450\" height=\"356\" data-srcset=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/green-grass1.jpg 450w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/green-grass1-300x237.jpg 300w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/green-grass1-400x316.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11416\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grass could actually turn out to be greener on the other side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Home becomes too big<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"\/move\/downsizing-for-retirement\/#moving-smaller-house\" rel=\"follow\">Downsizing<\/a> is a good option for people whose children have moved out from the family home. If all of a sudden the maintenance of a large house gets to be a burden and the maintenance costs start climbing, relocating to a smaller home should definitely be considered.<\/p>\n<h3>The grass is always greener&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p>People tend to want the things they don\u2019t have. So, a bigger and more luxurious home in a beautiful place with pleasant climatic conditions is a logical choice for any individual who can afford it.<\/p>\n<h3>Marital status<\/h3>\n<p>When couples move in together or get married, it\u2019s only natural that one of the parties relocate to the other person\u2019s home. Sadly enough, break-ups are a good reason for people to want to move away.<\/p>\n<h3>Retirement<\/h3>\n<p>After a lifetime of hard work, most retirees feel that they have earned their ticket to a warm, beautiful and peaceful place where they can enjoy the remainder of their lives. And no matter whether the move will be to a <a href=\"\/move\/downsizing-for-retirement\/#retirement-home\" rel=\"follow\">retirement community<\/a> or to any of the <a href=\"\/move\/downsizing-for-retirement\/#moving-abroad\" rel=\"follow\">top retirement destinations abroad<\/a>, the best way to decide if such relocation is the right choice for retired people or not is a long-term vacation of several months to the selected destination. Such a vacation will help them see if a permanent move there will fit their new lifestyle.<\/p>\n<h3>Neighborhood is no longer the same<\/h3>\n<p>Some neighborhoods change for the worse economically or socially, or even both. In fact, the change in the immediate surroundings may be so drastic that people will perceive the living conditions as intolerable and be forced to find a new home elsewhere.<\/p>\n<h3>Health issues<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11380\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11380\" style=\"width: 266px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11380 lazyload\" data-src=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stairs-home-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Long flight of stairs may prove quite a challenge for elderly people.\" data-aspectratio=\"266\/400\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" data-srcset=\"\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stairs-home-199x300.jpg 199w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stairs-home-400x601.jpg 400w, \/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/stairs-home.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11380\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Long flight of stairs may prove quite a challenge for elderly people.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>People with physical ailments, such as back or knee problems, will find it hard to climb up and down the stairs of a two-story house on a daily basis. Therefore, a one-story home will be much more practical in such cases. Or, for various reasons, the aging population may choose to enjoy a much more tranquil lifestyle at assisted living housing.<\/p>\n<h3>Pursuing a dream<\/h3>\n<p>And there are those who have had the itch to change their lifestyles drastically and put their time and effort into realizing a life-long dream of theirs &#8211; to travel and explore the world, to pursue a hobby or to just be less dependent on material things. These are the people who are willing to relocate frequently in search of the right place and the right people, in search of the calling that will help them find new meaning in their lives.<\/p>\n<p>All things considered, statistical data remain nothing but mere numbers. The reasons behind each move are much more personal, unique and more often than not &#8211; complicated.<\/p>\n<p>And whenever the time to relocate to a new location comes around the corner and asks for you by name, the first step of the preparation process is usually to get an idea of <a href=\"\/moving-cost-estimator.php\" rel=\"follow\">how much the move will cost you<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How many times have you moved in the last 5 years? None? Once? More than once? Moving within the same country is a fascinating and yet complex phenomenon which can have a huge impact on the demographics and the economies of the affected areas. It\u2019s interesting to know how often these relocations occur and what &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/how-often-and-why-americans-move\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How Often Do Americans Move, and Why?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":11370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","entry"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/how-often-why-americans-move1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Joshua Green","author_link":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/author\/joshua-green\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the 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Green","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47f5a0d3fb45f1e09a5e159bac036328b50298a8a283aa2ced374d088896b040?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47f5a0d3fb45f1e09a5e159bac036328b50298a8a283aa2ced374d088896b040?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47f5a0d3fb45f1e09a5e159bac036328b50298a8a283aa2ced374d088896b040?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joshua Green"},"description":"Joshua Green is a relocation expert and a moving industry professional, one of the esteemed contributors to MoveAdvisor (previously MyMovingReviews) with specialized articles and informative guides which help people organize and execute their moves easily and comfortably. 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You can contact Joshua Green at: joshua@mymovingreviews.com | Linkedin","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joshua-g-green\/"],"url":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/author\/joshua-green\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48871,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361\/revisions\/48871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moveadvisor.com\/move\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}