Where are people moving?
Patterns of movement in the United States over the past year
People move for many reasons whether it's for work, school, families, or to make a fresh start in a new city. We can track interesting patterns by looking at the latest movement data from U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) maps in Living Atlas .
Think about a city in the United States. Of the people who moved there in the past year, what U.S. region do you think they moved from?
The South? The Northeast? The Midwest? The West? Or maybe from outside the United States?
From top left to bottom right: the South, the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and outside the U.S.
Continue through the story to learn the answer!
You'll go on a tour viewing striking patterns of movement across the United States over the past year, and end with an app that reveals movement information about your city of interest.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
This map of states is called a "predominance map." The color of each state indicates where most people moved from in the past year. In other words, it shows the predominant region of origin in each state.
For example, most people who moved to California and New York were from a country outside the United States. Click on California to view a chart showing movers' origins.
Most people who were from the West moved to another state in the West. The same within-region pattern is evident for people in the Midwest and the Northeast.
However, notice how green states expanded into other regions. This means that people from the South moved out of their region. For example, most people who moved to Colorado and Ohio were from the South.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
Zooming into the county level, we get a more detailed glimpse into movement patterns.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
Northeastern snowbirds and retirees moved to the Sunshine State (Florida) where 19% of the population are 65 years and up.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
35% of the people who moved to California were from outside the United States.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
The Lone Star state (Texas) experienced migration from all regions due to its strong economy and affordable housing.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
More people moved to and from the South than any other region.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
More people moved from the Midwest to the South than they did to the West.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
Some people moved from the West to different regions, but mostly moved within their region.
The South. The Northeast. The Midwest. The West. Outside the United States.
Zoom in further to see even more detail at the Census tract level. CLICK on the buttons below to explore different cities:
Search by city name or ZIP code in the map below to view detailed movement patterns in the United States.
Of the people who moved here, where did they live the year before?
This is just one of many ways you can map U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) layers shared via ArcGIS Living Atlas to discover new patterns and understand a particular subject such as mobility. Migrate over to Living Atlas to explore other ACS layers!
