Fewer people are moving?

For the past decade there has been a seismic shift in population as states like Illinois, NY and Calif lost population and southern states gained residents. Florida, for example, offered a more pro business climate, lower taxes, and intrusive government.

What changed? As people flooded into Florida housing prices shot thru the roof. Now it was considerably more expensive to live there. Speaking of Flooding a series of hurricanes and massive damage has sent insurance cost into the stratosphere.

The final straw however has been the recent surge in interest rates. If you have an old mortgage with a rate of 2% are you likely to buy a new place somewhere else when the rate will be 7%? Exactly.

America saw fewer moves than ever in 2024, according to an analysis of census data published this fall.

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The big picture: Roughly 1 in 9 people (11%) changed residences last year — a record low in data going back to 1948.

That's down from around 14% a decade ago and 20% in the 1960s, per the analysis by rental listing site Point2Homes.

State of play: New Jersey (8%) and New York (9%) had the lowest shares of movers in 2024, while residents moved most in Alaska, Oklahoma, and Colorado, each around 14%.

Illinois was under the national average with 10%.

Why it matters: A sharp nationwide "decline in geographic mobility is the single most important social change of the past half century," The Atlantic's Yoni Appelbaum wrote earlier this year.

In any decade, "the people who have moved have done better economically than the people who stayed behind," Appelbaum said on a podcast in August, discussing his book "Stuck."

Context: Appelbaum cites "discriminatory zoning laws" and "community gatekeeping" as major reasons mobility has stalled.