Americans are moving less due to a stagnant labor market and a nearly frozen housing market.
But a new report shows that 20-somethings are bucking that trend, and those young people are moving for reasons both new and familiar.
The report comes from the Bank of America Institute, and is based on data from millions of bank customer accounts. This shows that Americans have been traveling much less frequently over the past three years.
This is especially true for millennials (people born between 1978 and 1995) and members of Gen X, who were born between 1965 and 1977.
Where is Gen Z going – and why
But Americans born after 1996, known as Gen Z, are moving more than expected by 2023, “making them the most flexible group when it comes to relocating,” wrote Joe Watford, an economist at the Bank of America Institute and lead author of the report.
Some of the most popular destinations for Gen Z movers are Denver, Minneapolis, Austin, and Philadelphia. What’s notable about those metros is that they don’t necessarily have the strongest economies. For example, the number of jobs created in both Denver and Minneapolis declined in January, Watford noted.
“This suggests that factors other than the labor market (e.g., culture, environment) may attract some young people to certain cities,” they wrote.
Yet some places that have attracted young people of all ages may still hold attractions as early as 2026.
New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and San Jose all attracted increasing numbers of Gen Z movers, even as more Gen Xers and Boomers moved out than moved in.
Like previous generations, Gen Z members are probably attracted by the mobility and opportunity of such places – enough to offset their higher cost of living. By contrast, older Americans may be looking for less expensive metros as they age and retire, Wadford wrote.
Where are Gen
Among the areas where older generations were more likely to move were areas that boast warmer climates, including Austin, San Antonio and Raleigh. Gen
“Broadly speaking, Americans are settling in,” a release accompanying the report concluded.