Americans Increasing Hesitant to Move to Places Where They’d be a Political Minority, Redfin Survey Shows

A new survey finds 42% of Americans are hesitant to move to a place where they would be in the political minority. 

The Redfin survey, conducted in October, shows this number has increased 10 percentage points since the last survey was conducted in late May and early June. Interestingly, the survey also found that fewer Americans, 28%, are hesitant to relocate to an area where they would be a racial, ethnic, or religious minority than a political minority. The number hesitant to move to a place where they would be a racial, ethnic, or religious minority has also increased since Redfin’s spring survey by 8 percentage points. 

Redfin’s analysis shows that the hesitation to move to an area with different political leanings than one’s own is equally common among Trump and Biden voters. Of those surveyed, 45% of both Trump and Biden voters expressed hesitation.  

The survey also found that more people are moving away from Democratic (blue) leaning counties to more Republican (red) leaning ones than from red to blue ones.  The primary reasons for people leaving liberal-leaning areas included families seeking affordability and more space. The analysis also cited the trend of remote working and its freedom as a reason for the moves. The October survey included more than 3,000 US residents over 18 and was conducted between October 7 and 15th. Before George Floyd’s death, the spring survey was conducted from May 21st to June 8th, after protests and riots had spread across the country. The survey respondents closely match US Census breakdowns for age, gender, race, and geography.