Crime and safety was the most commonly cited factor for homeowners deciding where to move. For renters it was cost of living, with climate change at the bottom of the ranking.
Half of all homeowners who moved since the pandemic began said that crime and safety was an important factor in determining where they moved; 35% of renters said the same. This includes all those who said it factored “a lot” or was the “most important factor” in their decision. Among renters, the top issue was cost of living, with 40% rating it an important factor.
This is according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of 1,023 U.S. residents who moved to a new home since March 1, 2020. The survey was fielded from August 7, 2021 to August 12, 2021 by research technology company Qualtrics.
“There are plenty of positive reasons to make a move, but sometimes people move to flee a place where they felt unsafe,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Concerns with crime, especially among homeowners, contributed to a recent increase in migration out of cities and into more suburban and rural areas. Cities historically have been able to attract residents looking for high paying jobs, but now that remote work is ubiquitous, some may have to work on improving safety and other quality of life factors to retain and attract residents. This might be an uphill battle, because as wealthy residents leave, they take tax dollars with them, leaving cities with less resources to address safety concerns for remaining residents.”
Homeowners and renters differed the most on the issue of taxes, with nearly three times as many homeowners citing it as an important factor in the decision of where to move.
Long-Distance Movers More Likely to Factor Taxes and Climate Change Into Their Decision
People who moved to a new metro area were more likely than those who stayed local to say that taxes and climate change were issues that factored into their decision of where to move. Nearly a third (32%) of metro-movers said that taxes were a major factor in their choice of where to move, compared to nearly a quarter (24%) of those who stayed in the same metro. Climate change was a major factor for 24% of metro-movers and 19% of those who moved within a metro. With many workers now finding themselves newly mobile thanks to recent expansions of remote work, this could portend a wave of migration inspired by taxes and climate change.
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