StreetEasy and Oz Moving worked together to plot out moving patterns for how New York City moved in 2015, at a borough and submarket level. Borough and submarket data, including neighborhood boundaries, median asking rent and median sales prices, are based on StreetEasy 2015 listing data.
Overview
Though is worth noting that this is only based on Oz Moving clientele, the patterns Oz’s 2015 show reveal an insight into New Yorker migration patterns that was previously unproven. Oz also conducts many moves from New York to New Jersey, Westchester County, Connecticut, and long distance moves far outside the tri-state area, but these moves were not included in the data.
Summary of Findings
Oz and Streeteasy found a majority of New York’s movers aren’t going far. While only 14 percent of Oz customers moved to a new borough in 2015, a whopping 86 percent moved within their current borough.
Those staying in Manhattan are most likely to migrate downtown (38%) or to Midtown or the Upper West Side (both 22%). The largest share of borough migrants were heading to Brooklyn, with Northern Brooklyn proving the most popular area, having 35% of Manhattan emigrants headed to that area.
Going Deeper
To better contextualize these findings, Oz looked into the average cost of our customers’ moves from 2015 and interviewed some of our customers to try and better understand their reasoning for staying put or leaving their borough.
Average Cost
Moving costs depend on a variety of factors, but one of the most important factors is size of the moving inventory. Inventory size can be better understood via the size of an Oz customer's’ home.
Breaking down average costs based on apartment size, we found that most studio moves came in within a range of around $420 to $700, with each additional bedroom adding on an additional 400$ on average.
Studio - $420 -$700
1 Bedroom - $700 to $1100
2 Bedroom - $1100 - $1500
3 Bedroom - $1500 and up
The cost of using a moving company could deterrent for many, but Oz can report no matter where you move, down the hall or out of your current borough, the average cost of a move will not shift much.
Interviews
Many Oz customers are using our moving services to take the plunge from Manhattan into Brooklyn.
In 2015, David N. used Oz to move from Midtown West to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Asked why he decided to migrate to Brooklyn, David responded that he was looking for a cheaper rent and a newer apartment. Though rents in Brooklyn are rising steadily, the borough is still a cheaper refuge than Manhattan. In his move to Brooklyn, David most lamented a long commute, on a train line he deemed “unreliable”.
Since his move to Brooklyn, David has moved once more to Queens, where he says the commutes have improved. “[86% of people moving within Manhattan,] does [surprise me], I believe Queens is underrated given all the attention Brooklyn gets. I live in LIC now and there are more trains near me and my commute door to door takes 15 min.”
Caren F., a seperate Oz customer, had very different reasons for leaving Manhattan for Brooklyn in 2015. "We wanted more space for our family and we needed more school choices for our son entering kindergarten." Caren said. "We wanted to stay in Manhattan a few more years, but we couldn't find anything within our budget in a good school zone."
Caren and her family moved from Hell's Kitchen and bought a home in Park Slope where they plan on staying for "5-7 years". "We got lucky where we moved. Lots of trains and access to everything we need."
