The last time the Census Bureau calculated this was in 2007, when it found that a typical American will move 11.7 times in their lives. We redid the math using the most recent data (2013 for mobility and 2010 for population estimates) and reached a slightly lower number of 11.3 lifetime moves.I have moved 11 times in my lifetime (8 cities in 8 states). I thought that was unusual. Not so.
I've moved 10 times in the past 7 years. I moved 3 times in the same 1 year period (from Weymouth, MA, to Boston, MA, to Orlando, FL. Between moving to college, moving places while in school, then moving for work I've never renewed a lease. Rent is prohibitively high, especially when landlords want to raise rent. Not that I'm a bad tenant, rent is always on time, I live alone and rarely contact the landlords for anything, but rent always raises. Living by myself all bills fall on me, so if rent gets raised I'm more often than not looking to find it cheaper. I'm ready to stop moving, it's just so difficult to find a 1 bedroom place that isn't over $1000 a month. Here's hoping I don't double the national average for moves by the time I settle down!
ReplyDeleteI'm at 11. But according to the graph I have 2 or 3 left. Sounds reasonable.
ReplyDeleteI'm in my late thirties, and have moved six times. (1) Move from Sydney, Australia to Glasgow, Scotland (1979). (2) Move to better-located accommodation in Glasgow. (3) Return to mother's family farm near Maitland, South Australia (1983). (4) Move to Adelaide for further study (1995). (5) Move to accommodation closer to university. (6) Move to non-shared accommodation for maximum independence (early 2000s).
ReplyDeleteI see no reason to expect patterns for Australians and Americans will be particularly different, except that Australians will live in fewer states over a lifetime because our states are bigger.
I've moved 23 times, from NYC to CA. Also CT MA NH WI (3 places) WA, and 14 places in CA. I've been here in Torrance for 26 years, and don't plan to move until it's not my choice.
ReplyDeleteJust turned 36, from Germany.
ReplyDeleteMoved to Munich
Moved to Prague
Moved within Prague
Moved back to my hometown
Moved within my hometown
Not sure how to count two trips of 12 and 6 month, where I moved my stuff into my parents' basement, and a 3 month stint after coming back from the 2nd trip staying with my sister.
I'm at 16 moves, not including the seven different barracks I was assigned in the army. Started out in a house, first moved age 19, apartments until I was 49 when we bought the house. And I'm so done with moving. Lived in Detroit, Salt Lake City, Boston, sent to New Jersey, Kansas, Colorado, and Saudi Arabia.
ReplyDeleteI counted 25 moves, but I think I may have overlooked a few. Only once in the last twenty years, though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, now that I think about it, it's more than 30.
ReplyDeleteI'm 29 yrs old and have moved about 18 times so far, about once every 1-2 years for over a dozen years. My dad built houses while I grew up, so we would live in it for a year, then move into the next one to avoid a CA(?) tax. Although I have gotten "good" at it, it is still an activity I really dread. Maybe it's because I've gotten good at it, that I'm not afraid to move if needed (moved 3x in the past 1+ year). Also, it was really weird that while I was in grad school, I lived at a single address for THREE whole years!
ReplyDelete"The average American moves 11.4 times"
ReplyDeleteThat means the average American is really bad at chess.
Lurker111