Geographic mobility within the United States has been declining steadily since the late 1980s. Only 11.6 percent of U.S. residents moved between 2010 and 2011, down from 12.5 percent the previous year. It was the lowest rate since 1948.

William H. Frey with the Brookings Institution attributes that decline to two broad factors. First, long-distance migration (moving to new counties or states) is off due to the recession and crash in housing prices. Second, a fall-off in local mobility is explained by the aging of the population and high rates of home ownership. “Adult college graduates, the lifeblood of the national labor market, are not finding jobs in new places, and appear to be staying in their homes,” Frey says. “Meanwhile, young adults in their early 20s — newly graduated from college or starting out in life — are moving much less, especially between counties, than just five years ago.”

Fast-growth metropolises in the Sun Belt are seeing fewer newcomers. Donor states such as California, New York and Massachusetts are leaking fewer of their college grads.

Virginia, according to Frey’s data, bucked the trend. It is one of nine states that experienced net in-migration between 2005 and 2007 and then increased the net in-migration between 2008 and 2010. My guess is that Northern Virginia, with an economy propped up by federal spending, accounts for most of those gains. It is worth noting, however, that Maryland continued to lose migrants, though at a slower rate than previously.

— JAB