When Tom Williams was recently offered a huge salary increase to move to the Houston office of his engineering company, his answer took a matter of seconds. "I said, 'No way Jose, we've finally settled in here. I'm not doing that to the kids,' " says the father of two. Wife Karen is active in the PTA, both kids play soccer in local leagues, and the couple just refinanced to build a second floor for their ranch-style house in L.A.

Mr. Williams's response and his family's profile fit a US trend that has been growing steadily for five decades and has ratcheted up significantly in recent years: Americans are moving at the lowest rates in half a century - a phenomenon backed up by fresh data from the Census Bureau. The 40 million Americans who moved between 2002 and 2003 make up just 14 percent of the population, compared with 20 percent in 1948. Most of the slowdown in moving has come in recent years.

Though there have been zigs and zags related to economic factors such as interest rates, housing costs, and job opportunities, the general tendency to stay put is clear, analysts say. Thanks to the aging baby boom generation, the median age of the US population is now higher than ever (35.3 compared with 30.2 in 1950) - one indicator of wanting to settle down. In addition, more people are deferring marriage and families. And as more purchase and furnish higher-priced homes at later ages, more and more are ruling out a move. (In 1955, 55 percent lived in houses compared with 66 percent now.)

"These are very compelling findings because one of America's defining characteristics since the beginning has been that we are big movers," says Michael Haines, professor of history and economics at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Part of the American dream has always been to own a home, he and others add. Now, more people than ever do, and they seem happier to do so right where they are.

"The multimillions of babies born after World War II have grown up and are finding themselves in the middle of their life cycles living where they want to be," says Professor Haines. "They've found the communities they want, the school districts for their kids, and have unpacked their bags for good."

Although the three-decade tilt of population from the Northeast and Midwest to the West and Southwest continues, the numbers are diminishing. Between 2002 and 2003, according to the report ("Geographic Mobility: 2002 to 2003"), the Midwest and Northeast lost about 100,000 in domestic migration, while the South and West gained 125,000 and 75,000 respectively.

Job and income parity between the states has evened up nationally in recent years as well, according to a recent study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

"The great disparity in incomes between various sections of the country has been converging," says Michael Carliner, economist for NAHB, "which means the incentives for people to leave the Midwest, New England, and mid-Atlantic states for better fortunes elsewhere is reduced."

The number of moves has also been slowed by the perception that the wide-open frontier spaces are filling up. Demographers cite the sprawls of Phoenix and Las Vegas and the rising pollution/congestion/crime quotients there.

That perception, real or imagined, at some point will alter what some see as Americans' unique ability to move away from both congestion and problems and begin life anew somewhere else.

"One theory of American exceptionalism is that we have always had this frontier and geographic safety valve where people could move to get away from their problems," says Robert Fisher of Urban Community Studies Program at the University of Connecticut. Europe, by contrast, did not have the same kind of frontier, and so mobility quotients have always been far lower, he says.

Page: 1 | 2