Fewer Millennials are Moving than Young Adults of Earlier Generations

Recently released data by the Census Bureau shows that Americans are moving at the lowest rate on record, primarily due to the fact that millennials are moving significantly less than earlier generations of young adults. In 2016, only 20 percent of millennials ages 25-35 reported having lived at a different address one year earlier, compared with 26 percent of the Silent Generation in 1963 and 26 percent of Generation X in 2000. According to the Pew Research Center, this finding is surprising given that millennials are less likely than previous generations to be married, have a house or have a child – which are often impediments to moving. Instead, millennial mobility might be constrained by labor market opportunities, tight lending standards and student debt. For many young adults who moved in the past year, job opportunities were the prime motivation for relocation, and the jobs recovery may not be providing the impetus millennials need to seek new housing, according to Pew.