Economic mobility and geographic mobility have been closely linked for much of American history, so economists find it troubling that migration rates have been in decline lately.
According to Census Bureau data from 2013, about 4.8 million Americans moved across state lines in the previous year. That is down from 5.76 million in 2006 and 7.5 million in 1999. All in all, the percentage of Americans moving across state lines has fallen by about half since the 1990s.
The slowdown represents a tectonic shift in our economy and labor market--across all industries and all incomes and ages. Clearly, the recession has something to do with declining mobility. You can't move for a job if no jobs exist. You can't buy a house if nobody gives you a mortgage. And you can't sell a house and take off if nobody is buying.
The aging population might be another factor, because older people tend to move less often than younger ones do.
This is not a short-term supply-and-demand issue or a side effect of a slow-growth economy or shift in demographics. The change is deeper. Earnings have been become similar across the country, meaning there is less incentive to move from one place to another in search of a raise.
The rise of the Internet can explain much of the rest of the decline in mobility, by reducing the chance that a worker will move and move and move again in search of a good neighborhood or a good job. By information being more accessible, the Internet has improved the quality of any given move. As a result, Americans' moves are stickier these days.
Source: INERTIA NATION, New York Times Magazine, December 15, 2013.