Millennial Migration: How Has the Great Recession Affected the Migration of a Generation as It Came of Age?

Megan J. Benetsky, U.S. Census Bureau
Alison Fields, U.S. Census Bureau

The most common reasons for moving in the U.S. are generally job or housing related and usually, when economic conditions are good, we see a stable rate of migration. However, with the Great Recession spurred by a housing and credit crisis an associated rise in unemployment, migration in the U.S. slowed (Frey 2009; Ihrke, Faber, and Koerber 2011). Young adults aged 20-24 have the highest migration rate of any age group (Schachter 2004), and they may also be hardest hit by the Great Recession. Given the bleak job outlook, constrained college funds, and housing crisis, their migration numbers may have declined and demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic migration patterns may have changed. This paper furthers current research at the U.S. Census Bureau on the migration of young adults, to better understand the demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic forces behind new migration patterns brought on by the Great Recession.