We sold my childhood home about a month ago, a home I had lived in for fifteen years. It sparked many feelings, but the greatest was nostalgia. I was sad to be leaving, excited for the new home we would be moving into, and tired of moving box after endless box. My heart was on an island surrounded by Ragedy Anne dolls, Gameboy Color accessories, and Nancy Drew books.
This feeling happens to millions of college students across the nation, so I knew I was not alone. But what are the trends? Moving sparked a question inside the actual adult hiding behind my six-year-old self that used to pretend I was Indiana Jones in the same backyard I would not longer play in; where do college students go?
According to the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of Millennials are living at home as of 2012. When Pew looked at the male to female ration of that percent, they found that it was more males that were returning home.
Millennials ages 18-24 are much more likely to move back in with their parents. This number has risen from past research, and Pew points out that this may be because of a decline in employment, more students enrolling in college (definitely a good thing), and also a decline in Millennials getting married.
If the majority of college students are not returning home, where are they going? A report by the City Observatory shows that college graduates are moving to the neighborhoods of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Almost one million graduates transfer over state lines but do not actually settle in the same place until they reach age 35.
Cities growing in the number of new college graduates are changing over time. Houston has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of college grads from 2000 to 2012. Among other popular cities include Nashville, Denver, Austin, Portland, and Washington. Cities who have seen a decline in a population of college grads are Atlanta and Charlotte.
This information may be comforting to some young Millennials, but may be terrifying to others whose parents have already turned their room into a cool office space.
So when you have to move, just know that there are those millions of other Millennials going through the exact same thing. You are not alone.