Geographic mobility has long been an important aspect of American life, affecting both people and geographic areas. At an individual level, moving has a number of potential impacts, such as expanding economic opportunity or increasing residential satisfaction. The movement of people is a key demographic factor for any area’s population trends, and can change its demographic and socioeconomic composition. Finally, federal, state, and local government, as well as private industry, need to understand who moves and why when planning for needed services, facilities, and businesses.

This report examines geographic mobility in the United States, including differences in the extent and types of movement in recent years, characteristics of movers compared with nonmovers, distance of moves, reasons for moving, and regional migration patterns.

Reason-for-move and distance-of-move tabulations are included in this report for the first time, as well as a special topic section that uses multivariate analysis to examine how different variables influence the likelihood that a person moved.

Table 1. General Mobility, by Region, Sex, and Age: 2003

Table 2. General Mobility, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Age: 2003

Table 3. General Mobility, by Region and Selected Characteristics: 2003

Table 4. General Mobility by Race, Hispanic Origin, and Selected Characteristics: 2003

Table 5. General Mobility of Persons 25 Years and Over, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Age, and Educational Attainment: 2003

Table 6. General Mobility of Persons 25 Years and Over, by Region, Age, and Educational Attainment: 2003

Table 7. General Mobility of Persons 16 Years and Over, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Labor Force Status: 2003

Table 8. General Mobility of Persons 16 Years and Over, by Region, Sex,and Labor Force Status: 2003

Table 9. General Mobility of Employed Civilians 16 Years and Over, by Sex, Age, and Major Occupation Group: 2003

Table 10. General Mobility of Employed Civilians 16 Years and Over, by Sex, Age, and Major Industy Group: 2003

Table 11. General Mobility of Persons 15 Years and Over, by Region, Age, and Income in 2002: 2003

Table 12. General Mobility of Persons 15 Years and Over, by Age, Race and Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Income in 2002: 2003

Table 13. General Mobility, by Sex, Age, and Relationship to Householder: 2003

Table 14. General Mobility of Family Householders, By Type of Household, Age of Householder, and Presence and Ages of Own Children Under 18: 2003

Table 15. General Mobility of Family Householders, by Type of Household, Race and Hispanic Origin of Householder, and Presence and Ages of Own Children Under 18: 2003

Table 16. General Mobility of Householders, by Region, Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Household Income in 2002: 2003

Table 17. General Mobility of Householders, by Tenure, Age, and Household Income in 2002: 2003

Table 18. Inmigrants, Outmigrants, and Net Migration for Regions, by Race and Hispanic Origin, and by Selected Characteristics: 2003

Table 19. Inmigrants, Outmigrants, and Net Migration for Regions, by Race and Hispanic Origin, Income in 2002, Occupation, and Industry: 2003

Table 20. Migration Flows Between Regions, by Race and Hispanic Origin and by Selected Characteristics: 2003

Table 21. Migration Flows Between Regions, by Income in 2002, Occupation,and Industry: 2003

Migration Flows Between Regions, by Income in 2002, Occupation,and Industry: 2003 [<1.0 MB]

Table 22. Inmigration, Outmigration, and Net Migration by Metro Status and Selected Characteristics:

Table 23. Metropolitan Mobility by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Age: 2003

Table 24. Metropolitan Mobility by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Selected Characteristics: 2003

Table 25. Metropolitan Mobility of Persons 16 Years and Over, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Labor Force Status: 2003

Table 26. Metropolitan Mobility of Employed Civilians 16 Years and Over, by Sex, Major Occupation Group and Major Industry Group: 2003

Table 27. Metropolitan Mobility of Persons 15 Years and Over, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Income in 2002: 2003

Table 28. Metropolitan Mobility of Householders, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, Tenure, and Household Income in 2002: 2003

Table 29. Metropolitan Mobility of Family Householders, by Type of Household, Race and Hispanic Origin of Householder, and Presence and Ages of Own Children Under 18: 2003

Table 30. General Mobility by Tenure, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age: 2003

Table 31. Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics (all categories): 2003

Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics (all categories): 2003 [<1.0 MB]

Table 32. Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics (collapsed categories): 2003

Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics (collapsed categories): 2003 [<1.0 MB]

Table 33. Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics and Type of Move (all categories): 2003

Table 34. Reason for Move by Personal Characteristics and Type of Move (collapsed categories): 2003

Table 35. Distance of Intercounty Move by Selected Characteristics: 2003

Distance of Intercounty Move by Selected Characteristics: 2003 [<1.0 MB]

Others in Series

Publication

Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002

June 01, 2003

This report provides information on several characteristics of children, covering different aspects of their lives.

Publication

Fertility of American Women: June 2002

October 01, 2003

This report profiles current fertility patterns of American women and is based on data collected in the June 2002 supplement to the CPS.

Publication

The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2003

August 01, 2004

This report describes the foreign-born population in the United States in 2003. It provides a profile of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

View All

Related Information

Migration/Geographic Mobility Publications

Current Population Survey Publications

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021

Some content on this site is available in several different electronic formats. Some of the files may require a plug-in or additional software to view.

Is this page helpful?
Thumbs Up Image

Yes

NO THANKS

255 characters maximum

255 characters maximum reached

Thank you for your feedback.
Comments or suggestions?

Top