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According to CityLab, the effects of outward bound migration from California may be overstated and there is evidence that many would like to remain in the state. Census numbers shows that California outbound migration leaped 38% in 2018, but that is only 1.8% of the state’s population. Apartment List recently released new data on web searches that show 22% of Bay Area renters looked at options in Seattle, Denver, New York, and Austin, but most of them were searching local or in nearby San Jose or Sacramento,

The state still ranks in the bottom three for proportional departure rates. And Americans overall are moving at the slowest rate since 1947. The factors limiting big moves are demographic (more older Americans are aging in place) and, more powerfully, economic (with unemployment low and remote work increasingly common, fewer people are finding jobs good enough to move for). Some worry that our reluctance to pull up stakes is deepening regional economic inequality.

But plenty of stuck Americans do wish they could move. And Apartment List, a rental property search engine, has opened a window into the nation’s mobility dreams, as people browse for new apartments in far-flung cities or neighboring towns. This week, the company released a new analysis of where it sees renters hoping to move, based on their search habits over the second half of 2019. Better (or comparable) jobs and more affordable living seemed to be prime motivators for making a switch.

While there’s no way to determine how many of these searchers actually followed through on the transitions they pursued through the platform, Chris Salviati, Apartment List’s chief economist and the author of the report, says that the site’s long registration process helps weed out those who aren’t as serious about finding a new apartment. Users’ origin city was pulled from their IP addresses; if they searched for properties multiple different areas, Salviati says he used the first place they started searching for. This is the second such report the company has released, and the first that takes two quarters into account—that could cut down on some of the seasonality reflected back in June.

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