Have More People Moved During the Pandemic?

Location: Virtual

Speaker(s): Riordan Frost

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 seemed to reverse a longstanding decline in the share of Americans who move each year. Media narratives painted a picture of a nation on the move, with suburbs, rural areas, and vacation towns inundated with people fleeing dense population centers. But is there evidence of that spike? And, if it occurred, what happened after the initial wave? Did the pandemic fundamentally change how people move, or has residential mobility reverted to pre-pandemic trends? Riordan Frost, a Research Analyst at the Center, will examine whether and how mobility patterns have changed during the pandemic and how any recent changes compare to historic trends and patterns.

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Moving boxes stacked by apartment window.