Boston Millennials Staying Close To Home, Study Finds

BOSTON — Who says you can’t stay home? Most millennials live and work near their childhood homes, according to a new study by the U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University.

Nearly six in 10 young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up, and eight in 10 live within 100 miles, the study found.

About 72 percent of adults who grew up in Boston stayed here. For those that moved within Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the top destinations were: Boston (72 percent), Providence, RI (2.5 percent) and Springfield, MA (1.2 percent).

Bridgeport, CT was the top destination for young adults moving out of state as 2.9 percent from Boston moved there. Other top out of state destinations were Manchester, NH (2.5 percent) and New York, NY (1.6 percent).

The study analyzed where individuals moved between childhood (their location at 16 years old) and young adulthood (where they lived at 26). It was based on data from the decennial census, survey and tax data for people born between 1984 and 1992. The geographic areas in the study are based on commuting zones.

Nationally, young adults whose parents were in the top 20 percent income level were more likely to move out of state compared with the rest of the population. In Boston, around 65 percent of young adults who meet that criteria stayed home, while 4 percent moved within Massachusetts and 2.4 percent moved out of state.

About 3.7 percent of young adults whose parents were in the bottom 20 percent income level stayed in Boston.

Black, Hispanic and Asian young adults are less likely to stay in Boston than white young adults, according to the study. About 2 percent of Black and 2.5 percent of Hispanic young adults stayed, while 4.5 percent of white young adults and 1.9 percent of Asians sought job opportunities elsewhere.

National trends follow a similar pattern. Black young adults moved an average of 60 fewer miles than white young adults. Young white adults were more likely to leave their home area, and when they did, they tended to travel farther.

Around 72 percent of young adults living in Boston grew up here, according to the study.

The top 10 destinations for Boston young adults who moved away are:

1. New York, NY (141 mi. away -2.8%)
2. Manchester, ME & NH (75 mi. away -2.4%)
3. Los Angeles, AZ & CA (2K mi. away -1.1%)

The top destinations nationally for adults who leave their childhood commuting zones are:

1. New York, NY: 3.2 percent
2. Los Angeles, CA: 3.1 percent
3. Washington, D.C.: 2.2 percent
4. Atlanta, GA: 1.9 percent
5. Seattle, WA: 1.8 percent
6. Chicago, IL: 1.8 percent
7. Denver, CO: 1.7 percent
8. San Francisco, CA: 1.7 percent
9. Dallas, TX : 1.7 percent
10. Houston, TX: 1.6 percent

Explore all the migration data here, including an interactive map.