2022 Study: Are Americans Giving Up on Moving for Love?
When the late, great Meatloaf sang about doing anything for love — except that — maybe he was referring to moving.
About one in four adults have moved for love at some point in their lives, according to a 2019 HireAHelper survey. But it appears that far fewer people are doing so today. In 2020, approximately 1,527,685 people moved for romantic reasons. By 2021, that number dropped to 1,067,234, representing a 30% drop.
It may be that pandemic-era flings are losing their luster, or most everyone interested in shacking up already has. But which generation is most likely to relocate for love? And where are they going?
Key Takeaways
- Fewer people are moving for romance: Relocating to live with an unmarried partner dropped by 30% in just one year, accounting for less than 5% of all total moves.
- Most moves are local and driven by Millennials: The vast majority of people who move for love stay within their same county, and Millennials are the generation most likely to make the jump.
- Texas and Illinois are top destinations: For those who do relocate to a different area for a partner, Texas is the most popular overall state destination for women, while Illinois is the top choice for men.
Casey Bond
Casey Bond is a reporter covering money, home, and living. Her work has appeared on HuffPost, U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo Finance, MSN, Business Insider, Forbes, and others.
She brings years of personal finance and consumer reporting experience to HireAHelper, helping readers make smart, informed decisions about the costs and logistics of moving.
Who’s Relocating for Love?
In 2020, the top overall reason for moving was because of a new job or transfer, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s not too surprising, considering more than a third of U.S. workers changed employers or lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic — which is double the normal amount over the past two decades.
But where did romance rank?
“Relationship with unmarried partner” ranked pretty far down the list, at 6% of moves. In 2021, the top reason for moving was “to establish own household,” followed by “other family reason.” Ending a long-distance relationship was once again a much lower priority, this time representing fewer than 5% of all total moves.
2021 2022 Reason # of Moves % of Moves # of Moves % of Moves To establish own household 2,878,137 12.8% 3,170,762 12.5% Other family reason 2,481,267 11.1% 2,596,415 10.2% For cheaper housing 2,408,044 10.8% 1,977,655 7.8% New job or job transfer 2,386,871 10.7% 3,399,284 13.4% Wanted to own home, not rent 2,020,061 9.0% 2,328,100 9.2% Wanted better neighborhood 1,616,836 7.2% 1,232,599 4.8% Other housing reason 1,541,679 6.9% 1,888,797 7.4% Change in marital status 1,287,273 5.7% 1,826,587 7.2% For easier commute 1,170,450 5.2% 1,464,583 5.8% Other reasons 1,156,188 5.2% 1,045,606 4.1% Relationship with unmarried partner 1,067,234 4.8% 1,527,685 6.0% Attend/leave college 824,236 3.7% 938,023 3.7% Health reasons 434,010 1.9% 596,470 2.3% To look for work or lost job 405,254 1.8% 520,348 2.0% Retired 226,812 1.0% 397,874 1.6% Change of climate 202,123 0.9% 115,352 0.5% Foreclosure or eviction 127,983 0.6% 189,659 0.7% Natural disaster 86,752 0.4% 111,014 0.4% Other job-related reason 77,548 0.3% 114,439 0.4%Most moves that occurred because of a relationship with an unmarried partner were local. Sixty percent of those moves took place within the same county. Still, more than a quarter of people who moved for love relocated somewhere else in the state, while 13% moved out of state.
| How Far Are People Moving for Love? | |
| Relative move distance | Percent of moves for love |
| Moved within county | 60% |
| Moved within state, different county | 27% |
| Moved between states | 13% |
When it comes to men and women, moves were pretty evenly split between the two in 2020 and 2021. However, there is one generation that’s far more likely to move for love: millennials.
Considering that the oldest millennials turn 40 this year, they’re in the prime life stage for finding a forever partner and settling down. Boomers, on the other hand, are pretty unlikely to move for a romantic partner — only 4% of moves for love took place among Boomers last year.
| Who's Moving for Love? | ||
| Group | 2021 | 2022 |
| Men | 50% | 48% |
| Women | 50% | 52% |
| Gen Z | 33% | 34% |
| Gen Y (Millennials) | 51% | 46% |
| Gen X | 12% | 13% |
| Baby Boomers | 4% | 8% |
Where Are People In Love Moving To?
When we look at where people who moved for love ended up, there are some big differences between states. The top 10 states that received the newest residents who moved for romantic reasons include Texas, Florida and California. This seems reasonable, considering they’re also the largest states in general. However, there were a few smaller states on the list — including North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee — which also saw a large influx of new residents during the pandemic as people fled high cost-of-living areas.
| State | Percent of People Moving Who Relocated There for Love |
| Texas | 14.0% |
| Ohio | 9.1% |
| Illinois | 6.8% |
| Florida | 6.5% |
| North Carolina | 6.4% |
| Virginia | 5.9% |
| Tennessee | 5.8% |
| California | 4.9% |
| Arizona | 4.6% |
| Utah | 4.3% |
Breaking it down by gender self-identification, the states of Illinois, Florida and North Carolina were the most popular destinations for men who moved for love. Women also favored Illinois, as well as Texas and California.
Below, you can see the top 10 states where both men and women moved for love (percentages are based on the entire population of people moving in 2021, according to the US Census Bureau).
| State | Percent of Men Who Moved for There for Love |
| Illinois | 9.2% |
| Florida | 8.2% |
| North Carolina | 7.8% |
| Texas | 6.7% |
| Colorado | 4.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 4.5% |
| California | 4.4% |
| Virgiina | 4.2% |
| Ohio | 4.1% |
| Tennessee | 4.1% |
| State | Percent of Women Who Moved There for Love |
| Texas | 13.42% |
| California | 6.83% |
| Illinois | 6.33% |
| Florida | 6.12% |
| Colorado | 4.81% |
| Pennsylvania | 4.55% |
| Tennessee | 4.46% |
| Missouri | 4.19% |
| Michigan | 3.82% |
| Utah | 3.55% |
As far as the cities where most people landed, the majority weren’t major cities, but smaller towns and the countryside (14.5%). Many more relocated to the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro area (IL-IN-WI, 7.6%) and Raleigh-Carey, NC (3.5%). Below is a list of the top 10 metro areas that received the most movers looking for love.
| Metro Area | Percent of People Moving Who Relocated There for Love |
| Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI | 7.6% |
| Raleigh-Carey, NC | 3.5% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 3.0% |
| Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX | 3.0% |
| Orlando, FL | 2.8% |
| New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA | 2.4% |
| St. Louis, MO/IL | 1.9% |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 1.8% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 1.8% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL | 1.8% |
Methodology
Unless otherwise stated, all the data behind the charts in this study was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and its Annual Social and Economic Supplements for 2020 and 2021. For the purposes of this study, moves that were made due to "relationship with unmarried partner" (a category introduced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020) were catergorized as moves "for love."
Illustrations by Rachel Tunstall
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