Census Bureau Reports Nearly 1 in 5 Movers Relocate to a Different Metro Area

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- About 18 percent of all movers in the United States and Puerto Rico, totaling 8.5 million people, moved to a different metropolitan area in the last year, according to new statistics released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the first time that the Census Bureau has released statistics for movers between metro areas from the American Community Survey.

The migration flows tables, which use data collected between 2009 and 2013, show how many residents move (or flow) from one county or metro area to another during the course of a year. Government officials and planners, as well as local businesses, use these statistics to understand residential turnover in their communities. They also use this information to plan for infrastructure for new residents when there is a trend in people arriving, or to plan programs that attract new residents or employers when there is a trend in people leaving.

"Nine of the top 10 metro migration flows were moves to nearby metro areas, with the largest flow of about 90,000 moving from the Los Angeles metro to the Riverside metro area," said Kin Koerber, a demographer with the Census Bureau's Journey-to-Work and Migration Statistics Branch. "Movers who left the New York City metro area for the Miami metro area were the exception, with about 22,000 people making this move."

In addition to the new metro-to-metro migration flow tables, the annual county-to-county migration flow tables are now available. The county flows can also be accessed through the Census Flows Mapper.

The migration flow tables for both county-to-county and metro-to-metro include characteristics of movers by ability to speak English, place of birth and years living in the United States.

Highlights from the new metro-to-metro migration flow tables

• Of the 8.5 million people who moved between metropolitan areas:
  • 8.4 million moved between metro areas within the United States.
  • 63,483 moved from a metro area in Puerto Rico to a metro area in the U.S.
  • 24,197 moved from a metro area in the United States to a metro area in Puerto Rico.
  • 18,918 moved between metro areas within Puerto Rico.
• Among the largest migration flows between metro areas:
  • 90,494 moved from the Los Angeles metro area to the Riverside, Calif., metro area.
  • 54,711 moved from the Riverside metro area to the Los Angeles metro area.    
  • 26,957 moved from the New York metro area to the Philadelphia metro area.  

Highlights from the county-to-county migration flow tables

• There were about 16.7 million people, or 5.4 percent of the U.S. population age 1 or over, who lived in a different county within the U.S. one year earlier.
• Among the largest migration flows between counties by selected characteristics:
  • 7,690 people who speak a language other than English and speak English "less than very well" moved from Los Angeles County to San Bernardino County, Calif.
  • 12,190 people who speak a language other than English and speak English "very well" moved from Los Angeles County to Orange County, Calif.
  • 2,968 people moved from Clark County, Nev., to their state of birth (California) and now reside in Los Angeles County.
  • 4,948 people who were born in Mexico moved from Los Angeles County to San Bernardino County.
  • 2,468 people who entered the U.S. five years ago or less moved from Miami-Dade County to Broward County, Fla.
  • 6,263 people who entered the U.S. 16 years ago or more moved from Los Angeles County to Orange County, Calif.

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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