Hacker News Reader

Comment by gmisra | Hacker News Reader

What do you think about the fact that, in general, the percentage of Americans who move is on the decline?

> In the mid-1960s, about 20 percent of the population moved in any given year, according to the United States Census Bureau. By 1990, it was approaching 15 percent. Today it’s closer to 10 percent. The percentage that moves between states has fallen by nearly half since the early 1990s.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/opinion/how-to-get-americ...

Also, https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/02/american-mobility-has...

View on HN

Great point here. It's a bit counter intuitive, right, that Americans on the whole are moving less. To add some color:

-The majority of Americans that live in rural or somewhat suburban areas are most certainly (though anecdotally) bringing this number down. In cities, you'd expect this number to be much higher than 10%.

-This data point from article below is bit more telling of our target market. Please don't mind their incessant use of the term "millennials" - they know not what they do.

> "44% of millennials say they plan to move again in the next year." (http://blog.rent.com/the-millennial-generation-on-the-move/)

Thanks for the response! Some follow-up questions

1. Does your market analysis differentiate between intra-city and inter-city move? It feels like the service is much more valuable for people moving inter-city.

2. Is there a better source for the "planned future mobility" data? I would expect rent.com to have a strong editorial bias around the perception that the rental market is healthy and renters are competing with each other. I would not expect the same kind of bias in census data.

3. I would love to see the census data's mobility over time cohorted by age group. Is that something you guys have done, and can share?

1. Data is about split. We're seeing people use us for both inter- and intra-city moves.

2. Agreed, might be a bit biased. LMK if you find a different/better source.

3. Census, unfortunately no. But like above, equally curious to see if that data is easily accessible, and if so, would love to dive in.

How much does this track with the population in general just getting old and settling down for retirement?

The baby boomers have been skewing statistics since they were born.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com