Moved By Fear: 18% of Home Hunters Say Safety/Crime is a Reason They’re Moving, 14% Cite Climate Risks

• 17.5% of respondents who plan to move in the next year cited a concern for safety/crime as one of the reasons why, while 13.7% cited a concern for natural disasters or climate risks.
• Safety and climate risk fears outranked a range of reasons to move, including lower property taxes, family changes, and higher rated schools.

Nearly one in seven (13.7%) home hunters say a concern for natural disasters or climate risks in their area is a reason they are likely to move in the next year. Even more (17.5%) say a concern for safety/crime is prompting them to move.

That’s according to a Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos in September 2024. The survey was fielded to 1,802 U.S. homeowners and renters aged 18-65. This report focuses on 904 respondents who indicated they will move in the next year. 

Fears around crime/safety and climate risks were among the top reasons for moving, ranking ahead of reasons like lower property taxes (11%), family changes (10.3%), and higher school ratings (8.8%).

“People want to feel safe in their homes, so it makes sense that concerns around crime and natural disasters are significant motivations for moving,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “With climate risks, the reason people move is not necessarily solely related to physical safety, but also because of the potential financial impact of high insurance premiums and other home protection measures.”

A desire for more space (31.2%) topped the list of reasons people are looking to move, followed by wanting to upgrade to a better home or neighborhood (25.4%), and wanting to seek a lower overall cost of living (21.6%).

Women, homeowners and younger generations more likely to cite fears as reasons for moving

Women (20%) were more likely than men (13.8%) to cite a concern for safety/crime as a reason for moving in the next year. Men (17.3%) were more likely than women (10.1%) to cite a concern for climate risks.

Homeowners were more likely to cite crime/safety or climate risks as factors to move than renters. Millennials and Gen Zers, combined, were more than twice as likely as boomers to cite climate risks as a reason to move. 

Methodology

For respondents who said they would “definitely” or “probably” move to a home in the next year, we provided 28 different reasons and asked: Which of the following reflect reasons why you are likely to move in the next year? 

Respondents to each question were able to select more than one reason.

Gen Z is defined as respondents aged between 18-27, millennials are aged 28-43, Gen Xers are aged 44-59 and boomers are aged 60-65 (noting the survey only polled respondents aged between 18-65).