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A migration pandemic is underway, at least for young adults aged 18 to 31.
This is according to a Bankrate.com survey that found that 31% of people in this age group moved permanently or over a long period during the pandemic. This is compared to 16% of adults in general.
Generation Z – ranging in age from 18 to 24 – was more likely to make money, with 32% moving out. This was followed by the generation of the millennium – aged between 25 and 40 years old – with 26%.
Generation X members – aged 41 and 56 – and baby boomers – aged 57 and 75 – were less likely to move, with 10% and 5% having made changes, respectively.
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The main reason for the change was to be closer to friends and family, which was cited by 31% of respondents. This was followed by a more accessible life, with 27%, or a move to work, 21%.
Others were motivated by opportunities for more space, 18%; different climates, 17%; or the ability to work anywhere, 17%.
Although many of the interviewees left the cities, they did not go far.
In the New York metropolitan area, three of the five most popular places to move from Manhattan were less than 15 miles away, according to Bankrate’s analysis of US Postal Service data.
Meanwhile, people who have left other cities, such as Austin, Dallas, Houston or Orlando, have mainly opted for new residential bases that are less than 30 miles away.
“It really looks like people are just leaving the denser neighborhoods to go to places where they can get a little more return on their investment,” said Zach Wichter, a mortgage and real estate reporter at Bankrate.
Bankrate’s survey came from an online survey conducted in February that included 5,158 adults. They also reviewed requests for a change of address for the U.S. Postal Service from January 1 to December 31, 2020.