Indeed, the majority of movers remained in the same county. But that probably didn't lesson the horror of it all, at least not for many folks. Only about 20 percent moved to another county in the same state, and just 18 percent moved to a new state. Also, only 3 percent of the movers came to the United States from abroad. But that's still about 1.4 million people.
Renters are by far the most nomadic.
About one in three renters moved between March 1998 and March 1999, Census reported, compared with fewer than one in ten homeowners. With a net gain of 270,000, the South was the only region with a significant population increase as a result of internal migration between 1998 and 1999. 32 percent of people in their 20s moved during the 12-month period while only 5 percent of those 65 and over changed places. Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate from his home base in the Nation's Capital for more than 30 years. He writes a weekly consumer column that is distributed to newspapers throughout the country by United Media.