People in the United States move less than they used to. One writer describes the consequences:

But over the past 50 years, this engine of American opportunity has stopped working. Americans have become less likely to move from one state to another, or to move within a state, or even to switch residences within a city. In the 1960s, about one out of every five Americans moved in any given year—down from one in three in the 19th century, but a frenetic rate nonetheless. In 2023, however, only one in 13 Americans moved.

The sharp decline in geographic mobility is the single most important social change of the past half century, although other shifts have attracted far more attention. In that same span, fewer Americans have started new businesses, and fewer Americans have switched jobs—from 1985 to 2014, the share of people who became entrepreneurs fell by half. More Americans are ending up worse off than their parents—in 1970, about eight out of every 10 young adults could expect to earn more than their parents; by the turn of the century, that was true of only half of young adults. Church membership is down by about a third since 1970, as is the share of Americans who socialize several times a week. Membership in any kind of group is down by half. The birth rate keeps falling. And although half of Americans used to think most people could be trusted, today only a third think the same…

As a result, many Americans are stranded in communities with flat or declining prospects, and lack the practical ability to move across the tracks, the state, or the country—to choose where they want to live. Those who do move are typically heading not to the places where opportunities are abundant, but to those where housing is cheap. Only the affluent and well educated are exempt from this situation; the freedom to choose one’s city or community has become a privilege of class.

A possible solution?

These three principles—consistency, tolerance, and abundance—can help restore American mobility. Federal guidelines can make the environment more amenable, but the solutions by and large cannot come from central planning; states and cities and towns will need to reform their rules and processes to allow the housing supply to grow where people want to build. The goal of policy makers, in any case, shouldn’t be to move Americans to any particular place, or to any particular style of living. They should instead aim to make it easier for Americans to move wherever they would like—to make it equally easy to build wherever Americans’ hopes and desires alight.

We will likely never be at a point where everyone will move to pursue certain opportunities – see an earlier post here – but this trend over time does go against earlier patterns. If more people were able to move, they might then be able to take advantage of housing or job opportunities.

One thing I have not seen in articles that highlight this: do more people want to move but can’t (which could be linked to social class)? Take some patterns from recent years. If more employers allowed work from home, would this free up people to move? If people perceive there to be more opportunities in the Sun Belt, how many move there (hence growing populations in recent decades) versus those who cannot?

Or, what if more people are used to not moving now and would stay put even if there were opportunities elsewhere? The era of mass mobility may be over and new generations are less used moving. Perhaps they want to stay closer to family or like staying rooted in one place.

Maybe the hyper mobility of Americans in the 19th and part of the 20th centuries was abnormal. Before then, opportunities were more restricted and people had stronger ties to families and communities. Why should humans move so frequently?

Looking forward, does easy access to social media and the Internet make it even easier to not move? People can access the connections and opportunities they want from wherever they are, as long as they have a fast connection.