Young Adult Migration: 2007-2009 to 2010-2012. American Community Survey Reports. ACS-31

Young adults in the United States have the highest rate of migration compared with other age groups. The most common reasons for moving among all ages are job, housing, or family related. Many of these moves are made between the ages of 18 to 34, an age group marked by various life course transitions associated with moving. These include getting a job, going to college, getting married, or having children. This report describes the demographic and socioeconomic status of young adult migrants, aged 18 to 34 using the 2007-2009 and 2010-2012 American Community Survey (ACS) 3-year estimates. The ACS is a nationally representative, ongoing survey that produces annual estimates of socioeconomic, demographic, and housing characteristics at the national and subnational levels. Migrants in this report include any young adults whose current address was different from their address 1 year ago. These estimates represent the years of the postrecession period using the 2010-2012 ACS 3-year estimates and were compared with the 2007-2009 ACS 3-year estimates, which represented the years of the recession period. The geographic location of young adults was also analyzed for the two time periods with a focus on metropolitan areas. This report is organized as follows: First, there is an overview of migration trends across age groups, then each time period is examined--postrecession (2010-2012) and recession (2007-2009). Second, each time period examines the mobility trends for young migrants as well as their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Third, there is an analysis of the geography of young inmovers by metropolitan areas.