Home downsizing is widely discussed, but national datasets rarely identify it directly as a move into a smaller dwelling. The available U.S. evidence instead measures residential mobility, migration destinations, moving reasons, home size and upkeep, so these statistics show the surrounding scale and context while keeping those definitions separate.
Key Home Downsizing Statistics
The most useful figures for understanding home downsizing in the United States include:
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, about 3,151,000 U.S. adults age 65 and over moved during the prior year.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, 6.2% of U.S. adults age 65 and over were movers.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, 15.1% of U.S. people ages 1–64 were movers.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, about 47,450,000 U.S. adults age 65 and over did not move during the prior year.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, the U.S. population age 65 and over was about 50,600,000.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, adults ages 55–64 had a 7.4% mover rate in the United States.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, people ages 1–54 had a 16.5% mover rate in the United States.
- In 2022, the U.S. national mover rate was 8.7% among the CPS ASEC population age 1 and over.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, the mover rate was 8.4% for U.S. adults age 85 and over.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, older women had a 6.5% mover rate compared with 5.9% for older men in the United States.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, 36.0% of U.S. adults age 65 and over reported at least one disability.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, older adults with a disability moved at an 8.3% rate compared with 5.1% without a disability.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, about 58% of moves by U.S. adults age 65 and over stayed within the same county.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, about 622,200 U.S. adults age 65 and over moved to a different state.
- In 2022, housing-related reasons accounted for 41.6% of U.S. movers.
- In 2022, about 28.2 million people moved in the United States.
- In 2021, the median age of all owned U.S. homes was 41 years.
- Between 2019 and 2021, owners of homes built before 1950 spent a median $4,100 on all improvement projects.
- In 2021, the median living area was 1,290 square feet for U.S. homes built before 1950.
- In a typical 2015–2019 year, the South gained about 72,900 adults age 65 and over through net migration.
Contents
- Key Home Downsizing Statistics
- How Often Older Adults Move
- Home Downsizing Data by Age, Sex and Disability
- Where Older-Adult Moves Happen
- Housing Reasons Behind Moves
- Home Size, Age and Upkeep Costs
- Outcomes and Regional Population Shifts
How Often Older Adults Move: Home Downsizing Statistics
The Census Bureau’s Domestic Migration of Older Americans: 2015–2019 uses the residence one year earlier to classify movers. Its estimates are therefore a useful mobility baseline, but they do not say whether a household moved into a smaller home.
| Population | Period | Mover measure |
|---|---|---|
| Adults age 65+ | Typical year, 2015–2019 | 3,151,000 movers |
| Adults age 65+ | Typical year, 2015–2019 | 6.2% mover rate |
| Adults age 65+ | Typical year, 2015–2019 | 47,450,000 nonmovers |
| Adults ages 1–64 | Typical year, 2015–2019 | 15.1% mover rate |
Source: Domestic Migration of Older Americans: 2015–2019. The report’s population base for adults age 65 and over was about 50,600,000, and the comparison covers age 1–64 rather than all adults.
Age matters in the comparison. Adults ages 55–64 had a 7.4% mover rate, while people ages 1–54 had a 16.5% rate, both in a typical 2015–2019 year.
A newer Census Bureau measure provides broader context: the 2022 national mover rate was 8.7%, statistically similar to 8.4% in 2021, for the CPS ASEC population age 1 and over. The CPS ASEC covers the noninstitutionalized U.S. population, excludes children under one, and uses residence one year earlier.
Home Downsizing Data by Age, Sex and Disability
Older adults do not move at one uniform rate. In the 2015–2019 typical-year estimates, the mover rate was 5.9% for ages 65–74, 6.0% for ages 75–84 and 8.4% for age 85 and over.
Women age 65 and over had a 6.5% mover rate, compared with 5.9% for men. The population base included about 28.2 million older women and 22.4 million older men, so population composition affects counts as well as rates.
Disability status shows a larger mobility difference, though it still does not establish voluntary downsizing. About 18.2 million older people, or 36.0% of those age 65 and over, reported at least one disability, including vision, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care or independent-living difficulty.
- Older adults with a disability moved at an 8.3% rate, compared with 5.1% for those without a disability.
- Older women with a disability had an 8.8% mover rate, compared with 7.6% for older men with a disability.
These are ACS estimates, and the report says comparative statements were tested at the 90% confidence level unless otherwise noted. A move associated with accessibility, care or independent-living needs should not automatically be labeled downsizing.
Source: Domestic Migration of Older Americans: 2015–2019.
Where Older-Adult Moves Happen: Local and Interstate Patterns
Location is another important part of the downsizing picture. About 58% of moves by adults age 65 and over stayed within the same county, including about 1,828,000 older movers in a typical 2015–2019 year.
| Destination of older movers | Typical 2015–2019 year | Share or count |
|---|---|---|
| Same county | 2015–2019 | About 1,828,000 |
| Different county, same state | 2015–2019 | About 700,400 |
| Different state | 2015–2019 | About 622,200; 19.7% |
Among older interstate movers, 41.8% moved to a state within the same Census region and 58.2% moved to a different Census region. Adults age 85 and over had the highest same-county share, at 64% of their moves.
Disability status also corresponds with destination patterns: 61.8% of older movers with a disability stayed in the same county, compared with 54.6% of older movers without a disability. About 240,000 older adults with a disability made interstate moves.
Source: Domestic Migration of Older Americans: 2015–2019. Same-county and interstate categories describe destinations, not home-size changes.
Housing Reasons Behind Moves and Home Downsizing Trends
The Census Bureau’s 2022 moving-reasons data help distinguish housing context from downsizing itself. Housing-related reasons accounted for 41.6% of movers, while family-related reasons accounted for 26.5%.
Among specific categories, 14.4% of movers sought a newer, better or larger home in 2022. That category captures upgrades and therefore cannot be treated as evidence of moving to a smaller dwelling.
- The share seeking a newer, better or larger home was 14.6% in 2020, 17.2% in 2021 and returned in 2022 to a level statistically similar to the 2020 pre-pandemic baseline.
- The share citing a better neighborhood or less crime was 4.7% in 2022, compared with 4.1% in 2020 and 6.0% in 2021.
- Change in marital status was the primary reason for 6.0% of movers in 2022, compared with 4.8% in 2021 and 6.1% in 2020.
About 27.1 million people moved in 2021 and 28.2 million moved in 2022; Census reported the difference as statistically unchanged. Within-county moves represented 53.5% of movers in 2022, while moves between counties in the same state or between states combined rose from 39.3% in 2021 to 41.7% in 2022.
Source: Change in Marital Status Became More Common Reason for Moving from 2021 to 2022, Housing/Neighborhood Improvement Reasons Declined. Respondents reported a primary reason, and housing-related does not mean downsizing specifically.
Home Size, Age and Upkeep Costs Relevant to Downsizing
The 2021 American Housing Survey provides home-size and upkeep context rather than transaction costs. The median age of all owned homes was 41 years, and homes built before 1950 made up about 17% of owned homes.
| Home measure | Older homes or owners | All homes or comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Median living area, 2021 | 1,290 sq. ft. for homes built before 1950 | Around 1,500 sq. ft. for all homes |
| Median owner age, 2021 | 58 for owners of older homes | — |
| Households with children, 2021 | 26% among older-home owners | — |
| Improvement participation, 2019–2021 | 61% of older-home owners | 47% of all homeowners for interior projects |
About 61% of owners of older homes started a home-improvement project between 2019 and 2021. They spent a median $4,100 on all improvement projects, while median annual maintenance alone was about $540.
New owners of older homes spent a median $3,900 per year on upkeep, compared with about $1,500 for owners who had lived there at least 10 years. Routine maintenance for older homes was a median $200 per 500 square feet annually; these figures are upkeep measures, not moving expenses or savings from downsizing.
Source: Cost of Improving and Maintaining Older Homes Higher for New Owners. Dollar amounts are in 2021 dollars, and the AHS improvement window covers 2019–2021.
Home Downsizing Outcomes and Regional Population Shifts
Homeownership and improvement behavior can accompany staying in place rather than moving. Among older-home owners, 59% of new owners and 46% of longtime owners undertook interior projects between 2019 and 2021; 27% made exterior improvements and 21% made land improvements.
New owners undertook land improvements at a 32% rate, compared with 18% for longtime owners. More than half of older-home owners spent less than 1% of home value annually on improvement and maintenance, while new owners spent a median 1.5% and longtime owners 0.6% of home value annually on upkeep.
Source: Cost of Improving and Maintaining Older Homes Higher for New Owners. New owners moved in within two years; longtime owners had lived in the home at least 10 years.
Older-adult net migration also shows where population shifts occurred in a typical 2015–2019 year, without identifying downsizing as the cause.
| Geography | Net migration of adults age 65+ |
|---|---|
| South | Gain of about 72,900 |
| West | Gain of about 8,800 |
| Northeast | Loss of about 46,800 |
| Midwest | Loss of about 34,900 |
| Florida | Gain of about 53,150 annually |
| Arizona | Gain of about 21,440 annually; highest rate at 18.2 per 1,000 |
| New York | Loss of about 23,420 annually through domestic net migration |
Source: Domestic Migration of Older Americans: 2015–2019. Net migration reflects all reasons for moving, and none of these regional figures is a count of downsizers.