Increase in Families Relocating During Pandemic

As a marketing firm that specializes in communications to new movers, we are frequently asked by current clients and prospects if families are actively relocating during the pandemic. Since we implement new mover marketing campaigns for healthcare organizations and retailers located all across the country, we have the opportunity to monitor the number of new movers each month compared to similar time periods in the past.

We are finding that families are relocating now more than ever before. For example, in January 2021, we saw the number of new mover records dramatically increase in Texas. Typically, the winter months provide the smallest number of new movers in our client geographies over the course of the year. What we are seeing, however, is that many families are relocating even in the winter months.

On Feb. 1, 2021, CNN reported that “by October, 8.93 million people had moved since the pandemic began in March. That's an increase of nearly 94,000 from the same period the year before.” Read Here.

In mid-December 2020, CNBC reported the top cities to which people are migrating amid the pandemic. CNBC relied on data from LinkedIn. Texas had two cities on the “Top 10 List” that also included cities in Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada and South Carolina. For the time period between April 2020 and October 2020, the “top 10 cities” all experienced more families moving into than moving out of these cities. Click here.

Another trend to watch is the exodus of residents from large metropolitan areas during the heart of the pandemic. In early January 2021, national media reported on an announcement U-Haul made on Jan. 4, 2021 that concluded “more do-it-yourself movers leaving densely populated U.S. areas, specifically New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.” U-Haul concluded “From the time that President Trump declared the pandemic a National Emergency in March, the 30 most populated U.S. cities (based on 2019 Census estimates) all witnessed more U-Haul trucks departing than arriving over the next three months. This indicated customers who were able to move, on the whole, were looking to escape urban cores for less-crowded destinations.” More here.

Now more than ever, marketers should consider communicating with families that are new to the area. At CMPkc, we recommend marketers consider focusing their effort on the “best new movers.” We focus on those families that relocate from “far enough to motivate a change in their buying behavior.” For healthcare, this would be selecting new doctors or identifying the location of urgent cares and/or emergency rooms. For retailers, if a family relocates 25 miles from their previous address, they will probably be forced to choose new grocery stores.

Learn more about how CMPkc helps hospitals, healthcare organizations and retailers market to new movers by visiting www.cmpkc.com/healthcare or www.cmpkc.com/grocery.

The original version of this page was published at:  https://cmpkc.com/Blog/cnn_and_cnbc_increase_in_relocation_during_pandemic