What This Story Is About
- Census data reveals that Knoxville’s projected “moving boom” is actually a multi-year slowdown, with growth leveling off to 1.3%.
Why It Matters
- The slowdown debunks local fears of runaway growth and highlights that the area relies on young, working-age movers to sustain its economy.
- Knox County must address low housing inventory and rising costs to successfully retain its incoming workforce-aged residents.
For Context
- While many believe out-of-state retirees drive local growth, only 10% of new residents are of retirement age, while the majority are ages 18 to 34.
Catch Up
- Moving rates surged during the pandemic due to job shifts and low mortgage rates, but national and local mobility has since leveled off.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Despite projections showing there would be a moving boom to Knoxville in 2026, data shows that moving rates to the city have actually slowed down over the last five years.
In November, moveBuddha predicted that Knoxville would have the highest in-to-out moving ratios in the country of 1.61. They cited their website’s ‘moving cost calculator’ and the fact that Knoxville hits three “sweet spots” that people look at: it’s a mid-sized city, it has a university and it’s located in the south.
But projections based on searches are not the same as census data, which shows who has moved here and who has stayed living here…