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Census: 1 in 5 movers relocate to different metro area

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU LOGOAbout 18 percent of all movers in the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, totaling 8.5 million people, moved to a different metropolitan area in the last year, according to new statistics released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This is the first time that the Census Bureau has released statistics for movers between metro areas from the American Community Survey.

The migration flows tables, which use data collected between 2009 and 2013, show how many residents move (or flow) from one county or metro area to another during the course of a year. Government officials and planners, as well as local businesses, use these statistics to understand residential turnover in their communities.

They also use this information to plan for infrastructure for new residents when there is a trend in people arriving, or to plan programs that attract new residents or employers when there is a trend in people leaving.

“Nine of the top 10 metro migration flows were moves to nearby metro areas, with the largest flow of about 90,000 moving from the Los Angeles metro to the Riverside metro area,” said Kin Koerber, a demographer with the Census Bureau’s Journey-to-Work and Migration Statistics Branch.

“Movers who left the New York City metro area for the Miami metro area were the exception, with about 22,000 people making this move,” Koerber said.

Of the 8.5 million people who moved between metropolitan areas:

  • 4 million moved between metro areas within the U.S. mainland.
  • 63,483 moved from a metro area in Puerto Rico to a metro area on the U.S. mainland.
  • 24,197 moved from a metro area stateside to a metro area in Puerto Rico.
  • 18,918 moved between metro areas within Puerto Rico.
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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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