Young, Single College Grads Still Mobile and Urban, Census Bureau Reports

Young, single, college-educated people are moving to large metropolitan areas, often to central cities — a trend that defies the general population’s outward migration from the same areas, according to a report based on Census 2000 data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today.

The New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington-Baltimore metro areas remained popular magnets for young singles who had graduated from college, despite these areas’ overall net out-migration rates. Of the 20 largest metropolitan areas, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose had the highest net migration gain of nearly 50,000 single college graduates in the 25- to 39-year-old range. Many favored other metropolitan destinations, including Las Vegas, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.

Migration of the Young, Single and College Educated: 1995 to 2000 states that three-fourths of these people changed residence during that period. Of those who lived in central cities in 2000, a ratio of 8-in-10 said they moved during the previous five years.

Some states, such as California and Illinois, saw net out-migration of the general population, but still attracted young, single college grads. Nevada, Georgia and other states that were powerhouses of domestic migration were also popular destinations for this demographic group.

Other highlights of the report:

• Whether married or single, young people with a college education were more likely to move than those without a college degree.
• People in the 25- to 39-year-old age bracket were highly mobile, accounting for more than one-third of people 5 years old and over who moved during the five-year period, but just 24 percent of the total population in this age group.
• College-educated singles ages 25-39 were almost twice as likely to have moved to a different state as singles in this same age range with less education.

The data are based on responses from the sample of households that received the census long form, about 1-in-6 nationally, and are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. Migration of the Young, Single and College Educated: 1995 to 2000 and other published migration reports are available at: http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/migration.html