Why Do Americans Change Residences So Often and Why Do Some Choose to Stay Put?

There seems to be three principal reason why people move so often in America. Social class tends to be the number one reason why people choose to stay in one location or move toward greener pastures. First, upper-class and upper-middle class individuals tend to build their lives more intensely around financial, employment, and organizational ties. They are less likely to fear the unknown and are more adept at coping with new neighbors, new employers, and new surroundings. Finally, white collar workers feel less pressure to stay with their local labor market. On the other hand, a working class person tends to focus on ethnic, neighborhood, and kinship ties. They fear the unknown, especially if the unknown represents a potential disruption of a normal, financially secure life. They have difficulty getting to know new neighbors due to sporadic working hours, stress, or personal obligations. Finally, blue collar labor unions provide a sense of stability, something that the working class person does not wish to give up.

Occupations also play a vital role in the reason why people move. It is harder for doctors with a private practice to move than it is for teachers or even for architects. In moving, doctors face the time-consuming task of establishing a new clientele, whereas teachers have readily transferable skills. Most local store keepers, business owners, and entrepreneurs find moving a formidable change as well. On the other hand, geologists, especially from oil companies, are a notoriously wandering group. Salesmen, marketing managers, aeronautical engineers, and computer specialists are also more likely to move. Among manual workers, laborers are considerably more mobile than those workers who are craftsmen, foremen, and kindred workers.

Age is a factor when it comes to whether or not a person or family chooses to move. Whatever the job category, workers between the ages of 25 and 35 are the most mobile, and mobility decreases with each succeeding decade. Young people between the ages of 18 and 25 constitute one-fourth of all movers, and in recent years their mobility rate has been rising sharply.