Older Americans On The Go: How Often, Where, and Why?

The lore on whether older Americans move is mixed. On the one hand, the stereotype of retirement is that people flock to a warm climate such as Florida or Arizona. On the other hand, researchers have found that the home equity of older Americans changes very little over time, suggesting that they tend to stay put. To date, researchers have seldom directly addressed the migration patterns of older Americans. Understanding such patterns can be useful in assessing the social and economic circumstances of the elderly. Therefore, this brief – the first in a two-part series – uses the Health and Retirement Study to examine how often older households move, where they move, and why they move. The brief is organized as follows. The first section covers the prevalence of moving and the geographic locations of the moves. The second section analyzes the reasons that households give for moving and explores whether these reasons suggest different types of movers. The third section concludes by setting the stage for the next brief, which will explore the determinants and consequences of moving.