Most U.S. movers stay in same county

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- Most people who moved in the United States in 2009 and 2010 didn't go far, a Census Bureau report released Monday indicates.

Nearly 70 percent of all movers stayed within the same county and about 17 percent moved to a different county within the same state, said the report, titled "Geographical Mobility: 2010."

About 12 percent moved to a different state and 2.5 percent went to a different country.

Forty-four percent who moved did so for housing-related reasons, the report says.

Thirty percent said they moved because of a change in marital status.

"Mover rates differ by characteristics, such as age, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, income or even whether the housing unit is owned or rented," said David Ihrke, survey statistician in the bureau's Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division. "Tracking mobility allows us to examine shifts in demographic trends in the population for the nation, regions and metro areas as a whole."

People living in the Northeast were the least likely to move, the Census Bureau said.

Principal cities within metropolitan areas experienced a net loss of 2.3 million people as a result of moves while the suburbs experienced a net gain of 2.5 million.

Other findings: Blacks move more often than whites and people with incomes just below the poverty line were more likely to move than those just above the poverty line.

The complete Census Bureau report is available at http://www.census.gov.