Why Are People Moving to Seattle? For the Job, or for the City?
A recent report from ApartmentList.com, "Why Some Renters Chase Jobs & Others Chase Locations," delves into why renters are moving to specific destinations as well as their likelihood of staying and purchasing a home.
In general, they broke their research down into two primary groups, location-first job seekers (those who pick the location then find the job) and job-first seekers (those who apply to desired jobs in a multitude of cities).
The research showed that college educated renters were more likely to be job-first seekers, applying to jobs in a variety of cities. Unsurprisingly, job-first movers are less likely to settle down, making them less suited to buying a home.
For the Seattle Metro area, ApartmentList.com found that 48% of location-first movers were planning on settling down, while only 29% of job-first movers planned to settle down in Seattle.
Their research showed that location-first movers were typically most drawn to sun-belt cities, and getting back to the original question posed in the title... why are people moving to Seattle? Is it for the job, or for the city?
There's no doubt that Seattle is a significant economic and technological hub, home to a litany of massive companies. And for those who live here, we're well aware of all our area has to offer, including our geography that showcases mountains, ocean, rivers, rain forest, and desert all within easy reach.
So, it probably shouldn't come as much surprise that ApartmentList.com's study revealed a pretty even split on why people are moving here, showing 49% moved here for the location and 51% moved here for the job. I'd say that's a pretty special mix that has Seattle poised to remain a top destination.
