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After Hitting a Record Low in 2008, Mover Rate Increases in 2009

The ""U.S. Census Bureau"":http://www.census.gov/ announced Monday that the national mover rate increased to 12.5 percent in 2009, up from 11.9 percent in 2008--the lowest rate recorded since the Census Bureau began tracking the data in 1984.

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According to data from ""Geographical Mobility: 2009"":http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/migrate.html, 37.1 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the United States within the past year, jumping from 35.2 million in 2008. Of the residents who moved, 67.3 stayed within the same county, 17.2 percent moved to a different

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county in the same state, 12.6 moved from a different state, and 2.9 percent moved to the United States from abroad.

By region, people in the Northeast had the lowest mover rate, at 8.1 percent; followed by the Midwest, at 11.6 percent; the South, at 13.7 percent; and the West, at 14.8 percent. The Census Bureau said mover rates in all regions were not significantly different on a year-over-year basis, except in the West, where the mover rate increased by 1.6 percentage points.

Mover rate data seemed to indicate that U.S. residents are moving out of cities and into suburbs. According to the Census Bureau, principal cities within metropolitan areas experienced a net loss of 2.1 million movers, while the suburbs had a gain of 2.4 million movers.

In addition, the data showed that renters were almost six times more likely to move than homeowners. In 2009, 29.2 percent of all people living in renter-occupied housing units lived elsewhere in 2008, and the mover rate of all people living in owner-occupied housing units was 5.2 percent.

About Author: Brittany Dunn

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