Family ties are pulling Americans closer to home.
The majority of U.S.-born adults (56%) have not lived outside their birth state, suggests research out Wednesday, and of the 37% who have stayed in their hometown, three-quarters say the main reason is because they want to be near family. Fifteen percent have lived in four or more states.
Pew Research Center's survey paints a vivid portrait about how Americans feel about their hometowns at a time when geographic mobility is at the lowest levels since the government began keeping statistics in 1948.
Pew cites government data showing 13.2% moved from 2006 to 2007, down from a high of 21.2% in 1951. Census figures to be released in 2009 confirm the trend, showing a dip to 11.9%.
"People move for economic opportunity, and they stay put for family ties," says Pew's Paul Taylor. "Those are the two biggest drivers of motivations either to move or to stay in one place. But if you add it all up, ultimately family trumps money when people make decisions about where to live."
Those who study migration trends say a combination of factors has led to the decrease in mobility, including an aging population (the prime ages for moving are 18-29); a rise in two-career couples, which complicates job moves; a murky employment outlook; fewer moves to traditionally high-growth areas; and the economic slump, whose roots began years before the word "recession" came into play.
Duke University sociologist Angela O'Rand says economic uncertainty causes people to dig in where they are, making them less likely to risk moving.
"Family provides in an uncertain world some level of safety and certainty," O'Rand says.
Among other findings of Pew's October survey of 2,260 adults:
*13% of respondents were immigrants; 54% say they consider the USA home; 38% call their native country home.
*77% of college graduates say they've changed communities at least once vs. 56% of those with a high school diploma or less. College graduates are more likely to have lived in multiple states.
*44% of movers cited job opportunities; 35% cited family.
*74% of those who didn't move cited family as the major reason; 69% said it was the desire to remain where they grew up.
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