Metro Movers: Where Are Americans Moving for Jobs, And Is It Worth It? - Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Glassdoor

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Metro Movers: Where Are Americans Moving for Jobs, And Is It Worth It? - Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Glassdoor
RESEARCH REPORT

Metro Movers: Where Are
Americans Moving for Jobs,
And Is It Worth It?

Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Glassdoor
Metro Movers: Where Are Americans Moving for Jobs, And Is It Worth It? - Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Glassdoor
Executive Summary
• Moving for a job is a big decision. Where are job seekers in the United
  States applying to jobs in 2018? And what makes them more likely to move
  to a new city?

• This study uses a large sample of more than 668,000 online job applications
  during a typical week on Glassdoor to illustrate real-time trends in work-
  related migration among the 40 biggest metros in the U.S.

• While the typical job seeker on Glassdoor is highly selective and applies
  to 5.2 jobs per week on average, that varies widely, with many power users
  applying to 20 or more jobs per week.

• On average, 28.5 percent of started job applications are to a new metro area.
  Which factors statistically drive “metro movers” — job seekers located in
  one metro, but start a job application in another metro — to apply to jobs
  and companies elsewhere?

• Salary drives candidates to move. But the effect is small. An extra $10,000
  higher base salary predicts candidates are about a half percentage point
  (0.41 percentage points) more likely to be a metro mover — a statistically
  significant, but small effect.

• Better company culture is more attractive. Having a 1-star higher overall
  Glassdoor rating predicts candidates will be 2.5 percentage points more
   likely to move metros for a job. That’s statistically significant, and roughly
   six times larger than the impact of offering $10,000 higher pay.

• Younger workers are more likely to move. Adding roughly ten years to
  an applicant’s age predicts they’ll be 7 percentage points less likely to be
  a metro mover. For employers who want to hire experienced candidates
  from other metros, recruiters may need to compensate with salary
  premiums or excellent workplace culture.

• Men are more likely to move metros. Even after controlling for job titles,
  education and age, men are 3.3 percentage points more likely to apply to
  jobs in another metro. Employers looking to attract women need to make
  a conscious outreach effort — particularly for tech and engineering                3 Introduction
  roles, which have many metro movers.                                               4 Who Are America’s
                                                                                    		 Metro Movers
• Movers are more educated. Workers with a master’s degree are about                22 Which Job Factors Most
                                                                                    		 Attract Metro Movers
  4.9 percentage points more likely to be willing to move metros for a job. By
                                                                                    25 Conclusion
  contrast, those with a two-year associate’s degree are least likely to move
  metros for a job.
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                                     Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

I. Introduction

Moving for a job is an important life decision that,                                     Glassdoor has a unique window into real-time job search
for many, can open up new doors and opportunities.                                       patterns in America today, including the factors that are
According to a 2016 survey by consultancy Kelton                                         most enticing Americans to pick up and move. This is
Global, 77 percent of Americans say they’re willing to                                   because Glassdoor is one of the world’s largest jobs and
relocate for jobs, while 86 percent of Millennials say                                   recruiting sites, with rich data on the job search process
they’re willing to move for work. Among those who
                                              1
                                                                                         and nearly 40 million reviews and insights on all aspects
do move, jobs are a key driver. According to the Census                                  of the workplace at companies around the world. In this
Bureau, 18.5 percent of Americans who moved in                                           study, we use a large sample of more than 668,000 online
2017 did so for job-related reasons — the third most                                     job applications started on Glassdoor during a typical
common factor, after housing reasons and changing                                        week in January 2018 to illustrate trends in job-related
family situations.      2
                                                                                         migration among the 40 largest metro areas in the U.S.

Where are Americans moving to for jobs in 2018? What                                     The rest of this study is organized as follows: In Section
kinds of applicants are most likely to relocate between                                  II, we present several facts about metro movers, or
cities? And why are they moving for jobs — higher pay,                                   Americans who are located in one metro, but start job
better workplace culture or some other reason?                                           applications in another metro, on Glassdoor, including top
                                                                                         city destinations, top companies applicants are willing to
While government surveys reveal patterns in where                                        move for and the most and least mobile job seekers. In
Americans are moving for work, the results often lag                                     Section III, we estimate a simple statistical model to show
years behind — making it hard to track real-time patterns                                which factors best predict candidates will move for jobs:
in today’s rapidly evolving workforce. Plus, Census                                      salary, company ratings, or demographic characteristics
surveys only show movers’ final destination. They don’t                                  of candidates themselves. In Section IV, we conclude and
tell us anything about the top cities Americans are                                      summarize lessons for employers aiming to attract metro
seriously considering when making critical decisions to                                  movers to their open positions.
move for jobs.

1. “Career Trends Report,” (2016), Question #20. Cornerstone OnDemand. Available online at https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/sites/default/files/whitepaper/csod-wp-
career-trends-report.pdf.

2. “Declining Mover Rate Driven by Renters, Census Bureau Reports,” (November 15, 2017), U.S. Census Bureau news release. Available online at https://www.census.gov/news-
room/press-releases/2017/mover-rates.html.

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                  Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

II. Who Are America’s Metro Movers?

Who are the people that will move for a job? What characteristics about metro movers on
Glassdoor make them more likely to move than their counterparts within the U.S. workforce?
In this section, we explain who these candidates are, how they search for jobs on Glassdoor, and
provide a data-driven profile of America’s most geographically mobile job seekers today.

Let’s have a look at the online labor market we observe at Glassdoor, and the trends we see
within job-related migration in 2018.

                                                  About the Data

The data used in this study are from online job                   To estimate salary for each job applied to, we applied
applications on Glassdoor. We use a large sample of job           Glassdoor’s proprietary salary estimates model to each
applications started by Glassdoor users during a typical          job listing, which estimates median base pay. In addi-
week from January 8, 2018 through January 14, 2018.               tion, we linked each job posting to the overall Glassdoor
                                                                  rating for the hiring employer, allowing us to quantify
The sample consists of 668,146 started job applications           the workplace culture for each job applied to. Finally,
from 128,221 unique users who applied to jobs using a             we collected basic demographic information about job
desktop computer in any of the 40 largest U.S. metros by          seekers such as gender, age and education to provide a
population. Overall, the sample is 59 percent male and            well-rounded profile of which Americans are moving for
41 percent female, with an average age of 34.7 years.             jobs today and why.
Using anonymized location information, we recorded
the metro location of each job seeker, as well as the lo-         In this study, all personal information was statistically
cation of each job they applied to, allowing us to identify       anonymized — no personally identifying information of
“metro movers” who are aiming to relocate for work. In            any kind was used in this research.
our sample, 477,848 applications were within the same
metro while 190,298 were to different metros.

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                                     Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                                                         Why Metros?

At Glassdoor, our metro areas are based on “core based                                    By looking only at metro movers — rather than those
statistical areas” or CBSAs. They are defined as a large                                  applying to jobs across city, county or state lines —
city with at least 10,000 in population, plus all nearby                                  we’re focused on job seekers trying to migrate for jobs
areas that are socially and economically linked, as                                       between two economically different areas. Our goal is
defined by commute-to-work patterns.*                                                     to measure economically meaningful job moves, which
                                                                                          metro areas do a good job of capturing.
When job seekers leave a metro area, they are leaving
a well-defined economic region — not just crossing over                                   * Core based statistical areas are defined by the
into a nearby town. Because metros include large cities                                   U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and
and all nearby areas where people commonly commute                                        are widely used by the Census Bureau and other
to, those moving between metros for jobs are making                                       statistical agencies. More information is available at
a major life change — something we wanted to quantify                                     https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_cbsa.html.
in this study.

A. Glassdoor’s Window Into the Job Market                                                 of America’s roughly 160 million person labor force. By
                                                                                          observing real-time job search and application behavior,
With each passing year, the online labor market more                                      data from Glassdoor offer a unique window into what’s
closely resembles the actual U.S. labor market. According                                 happening today in the nation’s fast-changing labor market.
to a 2015 study from the Pew Research Center, 79
percent of Americans who are looking for jobs do so                                       For this study, we compiled a large sample of online job
online. Among those who job search online, 28 percent                                     applications started on Glassdoor during a typical week
use a smartphone, with half of them applying to at least                                  in January 2018 — a period after the holiday season when
one job from their mobile device. Just as shopping,
                                                 3
                                                                                          many Americans are back at work and putting New Year’s
social networking, dating and other parts of daily life have                              resolutions into practice by looking for new jobs online.
moved online in recent years, the gap between real-world
and online job search behavior is rapidly vanishing.                                      In total, our sample includes 668,146 online job
                                                                                          applications started on Glassdoor. What do we mean
That makes information from today’s online job platforms                                  by “started”? When users search for jobs on Glassdoor,
more valuable than ever for understanding the U.S. labor                                  they’re shown an “apply now” button for each job posting
market. Glassdoor alone represents a significant share of                                 they view (see Figure 1). A job application is started
online job search activity in America, with more than                                     anytime a user clicks that button and begins the
5 million U.S. job postings being matched up with 57                                      application process. Those data are the basis for the
million unique visitors per month — a significant share
                                                 4
                                                                                          analysis in this study.

3. “Searching for Work in the Digital Era,” (November 19, 2015) by Aaron Smith. Pew Research Center report. Available online at http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/11/19/search-
ing-for-work-in-the-digital-era/.

4. Source: Glassdoor internal statistics, March 2018.
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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                             Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                                                                                Figure 1. Starting an Online
                                                                                                Job Application on Glassdoor
                        It’s important to note that we don’t know the final result
                        of whether the job applicants we’ve identified actually
                        moved to a new job. However, started job applications
                        data show us economic intent to move, which unlike job
                        clicks, are a much more credible signal and are less noisy
                        than simply counting how many times an online job has
                        been viewed or “clicked” on. Applications are costly to
                        job seekers in terms of time and effort. Those who take
                        the extra step of applying are typically more serious
                        about moving for jobs than those simply browsing job
                        listings online.
                                                                                                Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research/)

                        How Americans Look for Jobs Online
                        How often do Americans apply to jobs online? Figure 2                   which roles they actually apply to after reading reviews,
                        shows the distribution of job applications started per                  browsing salaries, and comparing job listings. Our
                        week among job candidates in our sample. On average,                    data show there are also a small number of Glassdoor
                        candidates apply to 5.2 jobs per week. However, the                     “power users”, or job seekers who applied to 20 or
                        distribution is highly uneven. Most candidates apply                    more jobs per week in our sample. These are the
                        to just one or two jobs per week. Although job seekers                  most active job seekers today.
                        click on many job listings, they’re highly selective about

                             Figure 2. Most Candidates on Glassdoor Are Highly Selective and Apply to Five or Fewer Jobs Per Week
Number of Job Seekers

                                                             Average = 5.2 job applications per week

                                                                                    Job Applications Per Week
                        Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research/)
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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                       Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

When it comes to where Americans apply to jobs, our                Figure 3. 28.5 Percent of Job Applications Are from Metro
data show most stay close to home. In our sample, 71.5             Movers Who Apply to Jobs Outside Their Metro Area
percent of job applications were to jobs in job seekers’
same metro area. By comparison, 28.5 percent were to
roles in a different metro area (see Figure 3).
                                                                   28.5%
Although as we’ll see below, even those aiming to move
                                                                   Applied to Job
metros usually target nearby metro areas rather than               in Different
cross-country moves. In this study, we refer to these              Metro
                                                                                                                        71.5%
geographically mobile job applicants as “metro movers.”
                                                                                                                        Applied to Job
                                                                                                                        in Same Metro
In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at these
metro movers and the types of jobs, companies and                                   Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

cities they are most attracted to in 2018.

B. The Top Destinations for Job Movers

What cities are most attractive to the nation’s more               The megalopolis of New York City attracted the second
geographically mobile job seekers? Table 1 shows the               highest share of metro movers at 8.4 percent, followed
top ten destinations for metro movers in America as                by the Silicon Valley stronghold San Jose, then Los
of January 2018, out of the 40 metros we examined,                 Angeles, Washington D.C. and Boston — all metros with
along with the top five metro sources where these                  thriving job markets that attract ambitious talent. Also
job seekers are moving from.                                       among the top ten are several smaller tech hubs includ-
                                                                   ing Seattle and Austin, as well as larger metros that have
The booming tech hub of San Francisco was the                      maintained relatively more affordable cost of living such
top destination for metro movers in our sample.                    as Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago.
San Francisco alone attracted 12.4 percent of all
applications by job seekers looking to move cities in              In general, these top destinations attract most candi-
our sample — by far the largest of any U.S. metro.                 dates from nearby metro areas. For example, the top
Despite housing shortages and a high cost of living,               sources for candidates aiming to relocate to San Francis-
the San Francisco metro continues to be a hub for                  co are two other large California metros: San Jose and
economic opportunity and a magnet for the nation’s                 Los Angeles. Similarly, the top sources for those aiming
most geographically mobile job seekers in 2018.                    to move to New York City include nearby Washington
                                                                   D.C., Philadelphia and Boston. However, as we will
                                                                   explore further below, a significant share of metro
                                                                   movers still aim to relocate across the country for jobs.

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                          Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                       Table 1. Top Destinations for Metro Movers in January 2018

                Destination Metro                              Percentage of Metro Movers          Top 5 City Sources of Movers

                                                                                            San Jose, CA
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
 San Francisco, CA                                                      12.4%               New York City, NY
                                                                                            Sacramento, CA
                                                                                            Chicago, IL

                                                                                            Washington, DC
                                                                                            Philadelphia, PA
 New York City, NY                                                       8.4%               Boston, MA
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
                                                                                            Chicago, IL

                                                                                            San Francisco, CA
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
 San Jose, CA                                                            6.9%               New York City, NY
                                                                                            Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
                                                                                            San Diego, CA

                                                                                            Riverside, CA
                                                                                            New York City, NY
 Los Angeles, CA                                                         6.8%               San Francisco, CA
                                                                                            San Diego, CA
                                                                                            San Jose, CA

                                                                                            Baltimore, MD
                                                                                            New York City, NY
 Washington, DC                                                          4.3%               Philadelphia, PA
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
                                                                                            Chicago, IL

                                                                                            New York City, NY
                                                                                            Providence, RI
 Boston, MA                                                              3.7%               Los Angeles, CA
                                                                                            Chicago, IL
                                                                                            Washington, DC

                                                                                            New York City, NY
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
 Chicago, IL                                                             3.2%               Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
                                                                                            Washington, DC
                                                                                            Milwaukee, WI

                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA
                                                                                            New York City, NY
 Seattle, WA                                                             3.1%               San Francisco, CA
                                                                                            San Jose, CA
                                                                                            Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

                                                                                            Houston, TX
                                                                                            New York City, NY
 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                                   2.8%               Austin, TX
                                                                                            Chicago, IL
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA

                                                                                            Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
                                                                                            Houston, TX
 Austin, TX                                                              2.3%               San Antonio, TX
                                                                                            New York City, NY
                                                                                            Los Angeles, CA

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                                       Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

C. Metros with the Most Movers

For the nation as a whole, about 28.5 percent of job ap-                                  by San Jose-based searchers were for a job in a different
plications are to jobs outside of a job seekers’ metro area.                              metro area. That may come as a surprise to many, as San
However, the number of job seekers within a single city                                   Jose is a booming city with many tech jobs and rising pay.
that are ready to pick up and move varies widely. In Table                                However, it’s also one facing an astoundingly high cost
2, we show the 40 metro areas we examined, along with                                     of living, with a median home price near $1.08 million
the percentage of metro movers in each. At the top of                                     according to Zillow.5 As tech hiring spreads to many cities
the table are areas with the biggest fraction of applicants                               beyond Silicon Valley, it’s likely competing metros are
willing to move to greener economic pastures elsewhere.                                   luring away many candidates.6 A combination of booming
                                                                                          jobs and rising cost of living puts San Jose near the top
The college town of Providence, Rhode Island topped                                       of two lists: It’s the third most common destination for
the list of metro areas with the highest percentage of                                    candidates from other metros, but it’s also the second
applicants looking to move elsewhere. In fact, 52.2                                       highest metro in terms of candidates looking to leave —
percent of job applications started on Glassdoor by                                       the most dynamic flow of job candidates among any city
Providence-based candidates were to another metro                                         we examined.
area — the largest among the 40 cities we examined.
Why? One reason is geography: Providence is a 1.5 hour                                    Other cities topping the list for having higher percentag-
drive from the large and fast-growing Boston metro.                                       es of metro movers are Riverside, California; Baltimore,
Additionally, Providence is home to several colleges and                                  Maryland; and Sacramento, California. What do these
universities — Brown University, the Rhode Island School                                  metros have in common? For one, they are all in close
of Design, Providence College and others — providing a                                    proximity to other fast-growing metros with more
steady stream of graduates applying to jobs elsewhere.                                    robust job markets, a combination that acts as a magnet
                                                                                          drawing away applicants. In each case, these cities are
The metro with the second highest share of metro movers                                   a 1.5 hour drive from Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and
lies in the heart of Silicon Valley: San Jose, California.                                San Francisco, respectively.
Just under half (47.6 percent) of job applications started

5. “San Jose Home Prices & Values,” Zillow (accessed March 23, 2018). Available online at https://www.zillow.com/san-jose-ca/home-values/.

6. “Beyond Silicon Valley: Tech Jobs Spreading Out of Tech Hubs,” (July 2017) by Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D. Glassdoor Economic Research report. Available online at
https://www.glassdoor.com/research/beyond-silicon-valley-tech-jobs-spreading-out-of-tech-hubs/.

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                            Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                         Table 2. Ranking By Percentage of Metro Movers in 2018

                                                   Jobs Applied To                                  Percentage
      Metro of Job Candidate                                                   Metro Movers
                                           (One Week Period in January 2018)                       Metro Movers
            Providence, RI                                     4,136              2,158               52.2%
             San Jose, CA                                      26,593             12,666              47.6%
             Riverside, CA                                     8,787              4,154               47.3%
            Baltimore, MD                                      9,372              4,278               45.6%
           Sacramento, CA                                      6,490              2,883               44.4%
            Columbus, OH                                       5,494              2,277               41.4%
            Pittsburgh, PA                                     6,119              2,404               39.3%
            Charlotte, NC                                      9,344              3,525               37.7%
            Cincinnati, OH                                     5,216              1,889               36.2%
            Cleveland, OH                                      4,693              1,655               35.3%
            Milwaukee, WI                                      3,497              1,230               35.2%
              Norfolk, VA                                      3,366              1,174               34.9%
           San Antonio, TX                                     5,352              1,859               34.7%
            San Diego, CA                                      13,207             4,421               33.5%
           Washington, DC                                      35,782             11,482              32.1%
              Orlando, FL                                      8,429              2,676               31.7%
           Philadelphia, PA                                    19,037             5,989               31.5%
          San Francisco, CA                                    39,798             12,481              31.4%
           Indianapolis, IN                                    5,419              1,698               31.3%
              Detroit, MI                                      11,286             3,381               30.0%
             Nashville, TN                                     4,633              1,383               29.9%
              Boston, MA                                       25,356             7,411               29.2%
               Tampa, FL                                       9,496              2,754               29.0%
           Kansas City, MO                                     5,832              1,656               28.4%
       Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                   34,261             9,618               28.1%
             Phoenix, AZ                                       14,491             4,044               27.9%
             Portland, OR                                      7,523              2,031               27.0%
             St. Louis, MO                                     6,365              1,695               26.6%
              Denver, CO                                       11,671             3,094               26.5%
              Austin, TX                                       11,617             3,044               26.2%
           Jacksonville, FL                                    3,327               861                25.9%
     Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL                                 18,292             4,715               25.8%
           Los Angeles, CA                                     56,290             14,003              24.9%
             Houston, TX                                       24,601             6,105               24.8%
              Chicago, IL                                      42,348             10,092              23.8%
      Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN                                 9,297              2,177               23.4%
              Atlanta, GA                                      26,599             5,779               21.7%
            Las Vegas, NV                                      5,434              1,155               21.3%
             Seattle, WA                                       20,643             4,235               20.5%
          New York City, NY                                    98,653             20,166              20.4%
                   Total                                   668,146               190,298              28.5%

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

What about cities with the fewest metro movers? The                              important factor to consider when choosing office loca-
metro with the fewest share of applicants looking to                             tions, as it can dramatically impact their ability to attract
move is America’s largest metro: New York City. With                             job candidates from outside their metro area.
more than 20 million residents, just 20.4 percent of
applications from New York City job seekers were to                              D. Where Applicants Want to Go
jobs outside that metro. It’s followed by Seattle —
a fast-growing tech hub that’s home to e-commerce                                Among the metros with a significant percentage of job
giant Amazon, as well as Microsoft, T-Mobile and many                            seekers leaving – where do they want to go? In Table 3,
others — where 20.5 percent of applications were to jobs                         we show the top ten metro destinations most appealing
elsewhere. Other metros including Las Vegas, Atlanta                             to job applicants in each of the ten metros with the most
and Minneapolis also saw the fewest metro movers.                                movers, revealing the cities that are competing
                                                                                 for talent.
What do these cities have in common? Most have a com-
paratively low cost of living, abundant local job opportu-                       Overall, there are several interesting patterns. First,
nities, and — perhaps most importantly — are located far                         each city appears to follow a phenomenon economists
from the nearest metro area. Seattle, for example, lies                          call a “gravity model.” All else equal, job candidates apply
more than three hours away from Portland, Oregon, a                              to jobs in nearby metros rather than those far away. For
distance that’s enough to discourage many metro mov-                             example, among candidates looking to leave Providence,
ers. Similarly, Las Vegas lies four hours away from either                       more than 30 percent apply to jobs in the nearby Boston
Los Angeles or Phoenix, and Atlanta lies four hours away                         metro. More distant metros still attract a significant,
from either Nashville or Charlotte.                                              although much smaller, number of applications from
                                                                                 Providence, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago
For employers, this shows that geography — in addition                           and Salt Lake City.
to cost of living, taxes, pay and company culture — is an

                                   Table 3. Top 10 Destinations for Job Applicants from Each Metro

                                            METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: PROVIDENCE, RI
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To               Number of Jobs Applied To
                    Boston, MA                                            30.1%                                       1,247
                New York City, NY                                          4.6%                                        191
                  Worcester, MA                                            1.6%                                         67
                San Francisco, CA                                          1.4%                                         58
                 Washington, DC                                            1.1%                                         44
                    Chicago, IL                                            0.9%                                         36
                Salt Lake City, UT                                         0.8%                                         32
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           0.7%                                         28
                   Hartford, CT                                            0.7%                                         27
             Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                         0.6%                                         26
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

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METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                  Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                               METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: SAN JOSE, CA
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                San Francisco, CA                                         28.9%                         7,686
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           2.8%                          751
                New York City, NY                                          2.2%                          598
                    Seattle, WA                                            1.5%                          392
                  San Diego, CA                                            1.0%                          272
                    Boston, MA                                             1.0%                          270
                    Chicago, IL                                            0.7%                          189
                 Washington, DC                                            0.6%                          168
                     Austin, TX                                            0.5%                          127
                 Sacramento, CA                                            0.5%                          123

                                          METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: RIVERSIDE, CA
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                 Los Angeles, CA                                          27.8%                         2,439
                  San Diego, CA                                            4.4%                          384
                San Francisco, CA                                          3.3%                          290
                   San Jose, CA                                            1.6%                          142
                    Seattle, WA                                            1.1%                           93
                New York City, NY                                          0.8%                           72
                  Las Vegas, NV                                            0.6%                           54
                    Phoenix, AZ                                            0.6%                           50
             Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                         0.5%                           45
                   Portland, OR                                            0.4%                           39

                                        METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: BALTIMORE, MD
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                 Washington, DC                                           23.6%                         2,216
                New York City, NY                                          3.6%                          341
                 Philadelphia, PA                                          1.5%                          140
                San Francisco, CA                                          1.2%                          110
                   San Jose, CA                                            0.9%                           84
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           0.9%                           83
                    Boston, MA                                             0.8%                           76
                    Chicago, IL                                            0.7%                           63
             Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                         0.6%                           58
                    Atlanta, GA                                            0.6%                           54
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)
                                                                            12
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                  Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                           METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: SACRAMENTO, CA
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                San Francisco, CA                                         16.8%                         1,090
                   San Jose, CA                                            5.6%                          362
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           4.1%                          269
                New York City, NY                                          1.3%                           86
                  San Diego, CA                                            1.2%                           80
                 Washington, DC                                            1.1%                           71
                    Boston, MA                                             0.9%                           60
             Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                         0.9%                           59
                    Chicago, IL                                            0.7%                           47
                   Portland, OR                                            0.7%                           43

                                         METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: COLUMBUS, OH
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                New York City, NY                                          4.5%                          249
                San Francisco, CA                                          3.9%                          212
                    Chicago, IL                                            2.6%                          142
                  Cincinnati, OH                                           2.3%                          127
                    Seattle, WA                                            2.1%                          116
                  Cleveland, OH                                            1.9%                          105
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           1.5%                           83
                 Washington, DC                                            1.5%                           82
                   San Jose, CA                                            1.4%                           75
                    Boston, MA                                             1.1%                           60

                                        METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: PITTSBURGH, PA
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                San Francisco, CA                                          5.1%                          310
                New York City, NY                                          4.5%                          278
                   San Jose, CA                                            3.2%                          197
                 Washington, DC                                            2.6%                          162
                 Philadelphia, PA                                          1.8%                          108
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           1.6%                           96
                    Boston, MA                                             1.5%                           92
                    Seattle, WA                                            1.4%                           83
                    Chicago, IL                                            1.1%                           68
                    Atlanta, GA                                            0.7%                           45
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)
                                                                            13
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                  Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                             METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: CHARLOTTE, NC
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                New York City, NY                                          3.5%                          327
                San Francisco, CA                                          2.5%                          236
              Raleigh-Durham, NC                                           2.3%                          213
                 Washington, DC                                            2.1%                          192
                   San Jose, CA                                            1.6%                          151
                    Atlanta, GA                                            1.5%                          144
                    Boston, MA                                             1.5%                          144
                    Chicago, IL                                            1.5%                          139
                    Seattle, WA                                            1.4%                          135
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           1.3%                          125

                                        METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: CINCINNATI, OH
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                New York City, NY                                          2.9%                          151
                    Dayton, OH                                             2.7%                          140
                  Columbus, OH                                             2.6%                          135
                San Francisco, CA                                          2.4%                          123
                    Chicago, IL                                            1.7%                           89
                   San Jose, CA                                            1.4%                           73
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           1.3%                           70
                    Boston, MA                                             1.3%                           66
                 Washington, DC                                            1.2%                           61
                    Atlanta, GA                                            1.1%                           58

                                        METRO OF JOB CANDIDATE: CLEVELAND, OH
           Top 10 Job Destinations                             Percentage of Jobs Applied To   Number of Jobs Applied To
                     Akron, OH                                             4.8%                          224
                    Chicago, IL                                            3.0%                          139
                  Columbus, OH                                             2.4%                          114
                New York City, NY                                          2.1%                          100
                 Washington, DC                                            1.8%                           84
                 Los Angeles, CA                                           1.7%                           81
                San Francisco, CA                                          1.3%                           61
                    Seattle, WA                                            1.2%                           58
             Dallas-Fort Worth, TX                                         0.8%                           39
                  Cincinnati, OH                                           0.8%                           37
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)
                                                                            14
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                             Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

E. Top Companies Applicants Consider
Worth the Move

When job seekers move to a new metro, they often do           By contrast, the labor market in New York City is much
so for a specific company. Rather than choosing a new         more diversified. Top employers attracting outside talent
city, applicants usually first choose a new employer or       to New York City include a mix of more established
job that offers a unique opportunity, great pay or pleas-     institutions such as JP Morgan Chase, NBC Universal and
ant company culture. Among the top metro destinations         Goldman Sachs with tech employers like Spotify, Google
attracting metro movers, which companies attract the          and IBM.
most applicants?
                                                              The Washington D.C. metro differs sharply both from
Table 4 shows a list of the top ten employers within the      New York City and San Francisco with a more traditional
cities attracting the most metro movers, as identified        and establishment mix. Top employers in the D.C. area are
above. What’s striking is the diversity of employers and      health care companies like Vibrent Health, government
industries attracting talent in each metro — a finding that contractors like CACI International, consulting firms like
underscores the huge differences that persist among           Booz Allen Hamilton and Deloitte, and educational insti-
labor markets in America’s largest cities today.              tutions like the University of Maryland.

For example, in the fast-growing tech hub of San Francis-     Taken together, these patterns in real-time job appli-
co, nearly every top employer attracting metro movers         cations on Glassdoor are simply a mirror that reflects
is a high-profile tech giant: Facebook, Salesforces, Lyft,    well-known cultural and economic differences among
Uber, AirBnb and Yelp, among others. Only one non-tech        U.S. cities, and the resulting patterns of jobs and pay that
employer made San Francisco’s top 10 list: Walmart,           we observe throughout the nation. It’s well known that
which is expanding its e-commerce presence and hires          the labor market in Washington D.C. differs substantially
many tech roles such as software engineers, data              from San Francisco in terms of employers hiring, jobs
scientists and others. For employers in the San Francisco     available and pay. The rich and diverse economic geogra-
metro, this suggests they’re not only competing with the      phy of the nation is clearly apparent in online job applica-
tech sector to hire local talent, but also for candidates     tions data from Glassdoor.
outside the area aiming to relocate for tech jobs.

                                                             15
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                       Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                 Table 4. Companies Attracting the Most Metro Movers in Top Cities

      DESTINATION METRO: SAN FRANCISCO, CA                                         DESTINATION METRO: SAN JOSE, CA
        Top 10 Employers                  Number of Job Applications            Top 10 Employers         Number of Job Applications
        Attracting Talent                     from “Movers”                     Attracting Talent            from “Movers”
           Facebook, Inc.                                 635                       Google Inc.                     519

             Salesforce                                   291                       Apple Inc.                      358

                 Lyft                                     240               Adobe Systems Incorporated              315

                 Uber                                     240                  NVIDIA Corporation                   277

          Shutterfly, Inc.                                237                    Amazon.com, Inc.                   253

            AirBnb, Inc.                                  228                         Udacity                       243

              Yelp Inc.                                   223                       Quora, Inc.                     198

              Fitbit Inc.                                 202                       Yahoo! Inc.                     195

             Google Inc.                                  188                   Cisco Systems, Inc.                 169
                                                                              International Business
    Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC                                 188                                                       169
                                                                              Machines Corporation

      DESTINATION METRO: NEW YORK CITY, NY                                       DESTINATION METRO: LOS ANGELES, CA
        Top 10 Employers                  Number of Job Applications            Top 10 Employers         Number of Job Applications
        Attracting Talent                     from “Movers”                     Attracting Talent            from “Movers”
     JPMorgan Chase & Co.                                 157                The Walt Disney Company                270

          Spotify Limited                                 150                NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab              165
  The Goldman Sachs Group,
                                                          122                   NBC Universal, Inc.                 129
            Inc.
          Justworks, INC.                                 117                       Netflix, Inc.                   128

      Home Box Office, Inc.                               110                       Viacom Inc.                     106
     International Business                                                      Sony Computer
                                                          109                                                       101
     Machines Corporation                                                     Entertainment America
       NBC Universal, Inc.                                107                   CyberCoders, Inc.                    96
                                                                              International Business
   McKinsey & Company, Inc.                               103                                                        92
                                                                              Machines Corporation
             Google Inc.                                   95                 University of California               92

 Oscar Insurance Corporation                               94                        Snap, Inc.                      87

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

                                                                       16
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                        Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

       DESTINATION METRO: WASHINGTON, D.C.                                         DESTINATION METRO: CHICAGO, IL
        Top 10 Employers                  Number of Job Applications            Top 10 Employers          Number of Job Applications
        Attracting Talent                     from “Movers”                     Attracting Talent             from “Movers”
    Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.                              139                Motorola Solutions, Inc.                 93
     International Business
                                                          130                 Citadel Securities LLC                  66
     Machines Corporation
            Latitude Inc.                                  72                    TransUnion LLC                       58
                                                                              International Business
            Ecosystems                                     70                                                         51
                                                                              Machines Corporation
   Johns Hopkins University
                                                           67                   AKUNA CAPITAL                         47
  Applied Physics Laboratory
          Vibrent Health                                   61               Discover Financial Services               45

       Leidos Holdings, Inc.                               58                     Groupon, Inc.                       44

     CACI International Inc                                54               McKinsey & Company, Inc.                  44

              Deloitte                                     54                       Relativity                        41

  The University of Maryland                               53                  Shure Incorporated                     41

            DESTINATION METRO: BOSTON, MA                                          DESTINATION METRO: SEATTLE, WA
        Top 10 Employers                  Number of Job Applications            Top 10 Employers          Number of Job Applications
        Attracting Talent                     from “Movers”                     Attracting Talent             from “Movers”
        Bose Corporation                                   95                   Amazon.com, Inc.                     536
     Massachusetts General
                                                           85                 Microsoft Corporation                  209
           Hospital
     International Business
                                                           80                   T-Mobile USA, Inc.                    99
     Machines Corporation
    Vertex Pharmaceuticals
                                                           76                       Zillow, Inc.                      97
         Incorporated
   McKinsey & Company, Inc.                                72                      Google Inc.                        95

               Wayfair                                     70                      Expedia, Inc.                      75

           Raybeam, Inc.                                   69                     Facebook, Inc.                      74

       Raytheon Company                                    63                SAP Aktiengesellschaft                   67
  The Brigham and Women's
                                                           56                 Starbucks Corporation                   63
        Hospital, Inc.
     The Boston Consulting
                                                           49                       Vulcan Inc.                       60
          Group Inc.
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

                                                                       17
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                            Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

  DESTINATION METRO: DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TX                                             DESTINATION METRO: AUSTIN, TX
        Top 10 Employers                  Number of Job Applications               Top 10 Employers          Number of Job Applications
        Attracting Talent                     from “Movers”                        Attracting Talent             from “Movers”
                                                                                 International Business
        AMR Corporation                                   115                                                             103
                                                                                 Machines Corporation
         Lockheed Martin
                                                           99                           Dell Inc.                         93
           Corporation
                                                                                The University of Texas
    The Allstate Corporation                               92                                                             84
                                                                                      at Austin
     International Business
                                                           80                         PayPal, Inc.                        72
     Machines Corporation
        Texas Instruments
                                                           64                   Silicon Laboratories Inc.                 60
          Incorporated
 Baylor Scott & White Health                               48                        Facebook, Inc.                       45
   University of Texas South-
                                                           42                      Amazon.com, Inc.                       44
    western Medical Center
         Bank of America
                                                           39                       Cirrus Logic, Inc.                    44
          Corporation
  Texas Health Resources Inc.                              38                     Electronic Arts Inc.                    44

        Amazon.com, Inc.                                   33                  NXP Semiconductors N.V.                    40

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

F. Jobs That Move Better Than Others

Not all jobs offer the same geographic mobility to workers.                 administrator (69 percent are metro movers), ATG devel-
Some jobs attract qualified applicants from all over the U.S.,              oper (67.5 percent are metro movers), industrial engineer
while others draw mostly local talent from the nearby labor                 (61.9 percent are metro movers) and Salesforce developer
market. Which jobs today are most likely to attract talent                  (59.7 percent are metro movers).
from distant metros?
                                                                            Why are tech and engineering jobs so geographically
Table 5 shows the top 25 job titles on Glassdoor with the                   mobile? Partly, it’s due to labor demand: employers for
largest percentage of metro movers in 2018. The most                        these roles are often concentrated in a few big metros and
geographically mobile jobs are generally engineering and                    actively hire talent from across the U.S. It’s also due to labor
tech roles. The most mobile job in our sample was chemical                  supply: many candidates for tech and engineering roles are
engineer, with 73.1 percent of applications to jobs outside                 relatively young, highly educated and more willing to pick
the person’s current metro — 2.5 times the overall average                  up and move cross country for their career.
in our sample. They’re followed by Oracle database

                                                                       18
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                               Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                                        Table 5. Job Titles with the Highest Share of Metro Movers

        Job Title Applied To                    Number of Job Applications                Metro Movers           Percentage Metro Movers

         Chemical Engineer                                      535                           391                        73.1%
  Oracle Database Administrator                                 532                           367                        69.0%
           ATG Developer                                        530                           358                        67.5%
         Industrial Engineer                                    607                           376                        61.9%
        Salesforce Developer                                    760                           454                        59.7%
           Flight Attendant                                     750                           447                        59.6%
            Data Engineer                                      2,604                         1,543                       59.3%
         Structural Engineer                                    500                           296                        59.2%
          Mobile Developer                                      797                           469                        58.8%
          Process Engineer                                     1,214                          702                        57.8%
            Data Scientist                                     7,808                         4,469                       57.2%
      Database Administrator                                    960                           549                        57.2%
          Software Engineer                                    28,934                        16,495                      57.0%
          Devops Engineer                                      1,295                          727                        56.1%
   ASIC Physical Design Engineer                                574                           313                        54.5%
           Design Engineer                                      713                           385                        54.0%
 Software Development Engineer                                 1,679                          900                        53.6%
          Actuarial Analyst                                     530                           276                        52.1%
            UX Researcher                                       687                           351                        51.1%
          Network Engineer                                     2,149                         1,092                       50.8%
        Mechanical Engineer                                    3,905                         1,965                       50.3%
          Research Scientist                                   1,099                          546                        49.7%
      Manufacturing Engineer                                   1,104                          546                        49.5%
         Software Developer                                    5,134                         2,519                       49.1%
            SQL Developer                                       519                           255                        49.1%

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

Which jobs have the lowest share of metro movers?                                 Bartender was the least geographically mobile role with
Table 6 shows the job titles of job seekers least likely to                       just 8.7 percent of applicants coming from an outside
move. Americans in these roles mostly stay close to home                          metro. They’re followed by retail representative
and rarely apply to jobs outside their current metro area.                        (10 percent metro movers), delivery driver (10 percent
                                                                                  metro movers), receptionist (10.1 percent metro movers)
                                                                                  and retail team member (10.3 percent metro movers).

                                                                             19
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                                      Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

Overall, these roles are lower-skilled positions that are                                 The irony of these “metro stayer” positions is that be-
typically filled from within the local labor market. Salaries                             cause they’re widely available, you might expect outward
for many of these jobs are below the median U.S. pay of                                   migration from expensive cities toward more affordable
roughly $51,975 per year for full-time workers, making it           7
                                                                                          areas for these roles. For example, candidates for retail
hard to justify a cross-country move for most applicants.                                 representative jobs have their choice of open jobs in
In addition, employers for these roles are widely dis-                                    essentially every U.S. city, unlike a more specialized role
persed throughout the U.S. and are not clustered in just                                  like database engineer that may require living in a high
a few metros like many specialized tech and engineering                                   cost of living metro. So do retail representatives flee to
jobs. Applicants looking for bartender roles, for example,                                lower cost of living areas? Our data shows lower-skilled
need not move to find an open position — many are avail-                                  candidates are just as likely to stay close to home,
able close to home.                                                                       regardless of a city’s affordability.

                                         Table 6. Job Titles with the Lowest Share of Metro Movers

         Job Title Applied To                           Job Applications                            Metro Movers                      Percentage Metro Movers

               Bartender                                        967                                         84                                   8.7%
        Retail Representative                                   988                                         99                                  10.0%
            Delivery Driver                                     927                                         93                                  10.0%
             Receptionist                                      4,707                                       477                                  10.1%
         Retail Team Member                                    3,218                                       332                                  10.3%
          Front Desk Agent                                      721                                         74                                  10.3%
                 Barista                                       1,263                                       132                                  10.5%
              Bank Teller                                      1,191                                       125                                  10.5%
           Forklift Operator                                    571                                         60                                  10.5%
            Order Selector                                      990                                        106                                  10.7%
                 Server                                        1,468                                       158                                  10.8%
                  Host                                          795                                         86                                  10.8%
                  Clerk                                         650                                         70                                  10.8%
 Customer Service Representative                               4,368                                       486                                  11.1%
                Cashier                                        3,480                                       388                                  11.1%
               File Clerk                                       713                                         80                                  11.2%
             Housekeeper                                        847                                         96                                  11.3%
         Accounts Receivable                                    799                                         92                                  11.5%
           Accounting Clerk                                     737                                         85                                  11.5%
                  Cook                                          553                                         64                                  11.6%
          Accounts Payable                                      839                                        100                                  11.9%
           Material Handler                                     787                                         94                                  11.9%
            Store Manager                                      2,576                                       308                                  12.0%
    Accounts Payable Specialist                                 674                                         81                                  12.0%
           Office Assistant                                    1,176                                       142                                  12.1%

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

7. Glassdoor “Local Pay Reports,” February 2018 (accessed March 23, 2018). Available online at www.glassdoor.com/research/local-pay-reports/.

                                                                                     20
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                  G. Do Metro Movers Earn More?

                  Many of the most geographically mobile jobs are                   Figure 4 shows a scatterplot of the relationship between
                  high-paying roles in tech and engineering. By contrast,           pay and geographic mobility among job applicants on
                  many of the least mobile jobs are lower-skilled jobs in           Glassdoor. Each dot is one job title we examined. On the
                  retail, food services and other blue-collar roles. Do more        horizontal axis is the percent of applicants who were
                  geographically mobile job candidates earn higher pay              willing to move for each job. On the vertical axis is the
                  on average? The short answer: yes, especially if it’s for         average estimated base salary for each job applied to for
                  a tech job.                                                       these roles. The blue line shows the best fitting linear
                                                                                    model for the data — a clear positive link between higher
                                                                                    pay and more mobile job applicants.

                                            Figure 4: Geographically Mobile Jobs Generally Earn Higher Pay

                                                 Metro Movers Earn Higher Pay
Median Base Pay

                                                                                                (each point represents one job title)

                                                       Percentage of Applications Moving to New Metro

                  Why is there a link between higher pay and a willingness          seekers who are willing to move also enjoy more
                  to move for jobs? It reflects a mixture of both cause and         bargaining power. Those who are most geographically
                  effect: The higher the pay, the more likely the job is to         mobile can attract offers from the entire U.S. labor
                  attract candidates from distant metros, since higher              market, rather than just a narrow set of employers in
                  paying roles justify cross-metro moves. However, job              their home area, which often translates into higher pay.

                                                                               21
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                             Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

III. Which Job Factors
Most Attract Metro Movers?

In the previous section, we revealed several stylized                         likelihood that a job seeker will look beyond their home
facts about Americans searching for jobs beyond their                         metro for a job.
metro on Glassdoor. In this section, we take a closer look
at the data and estimate which job or applicant factors                       Table 7 shows the summary statistics we used for our
statistically predict whether a job seeker will be willing                    regression model. This is a smaller subset of the overall
to move metros for a job — whether it’s for better pay,                       sample because only whole records, with data on each
a higher -rated company on Glassdoor, or other factors                        factor, were used. In total, we used 35,999 online job
like education, age and gender of candidates.                                 applications started on Glassdoor during the week of
                                                                              January 8, 2018. Metro movers made up 36 percent of
Below we estimate a “linear probability model” to                             applicants, applying to jobs with a mean base salary of
identify which factors best predict whether candidates                        $87,907 per year. The average company rating was 3.7
will apply to jobs outside their metro, all else equal.                       out of 5 stars. Men were 59 percent of applicants, while
This shows how higher pay, better company culture and                         41 percent were women. The average age was 33 years.
job candidate characteristics separately influence the

                                       Table 7. Summary Statistics for the Data (Regression Model)

             Statistic                   Observations           Mean                  St. Dev.             Min                 Max

   Metro Mover (Mover = 1)                   35,999             0.36                   0.48                 0                    1

            Job Salary                       35,999            $87,907               $38,234             $14,528             $295,757

        Glassdoor Rating                     35,999              3.7                    0.6                 1                    5

        Gender (Male = 1)                    35,999             0.59                   0.49                 0                    1

                Age                          35,999             33.0                    9.7                19                   65

           High School                       35,999             0.06                   0.24                 0                    1

       Associate's Degree                    35,999             0.01                   0.12                 0                    1

       Bachelor's Degree                     35,999              0.6                   0.49                 0                    1

        Master's Degree                      35,999             0.25                   0.43                 0                    1

               Ph.D.                         35,999             0.00                   0.06                 0                    1

      Professional Degree
                                             35,999             0.02                   0.12                 0                    1
        (JD, MD, MBA)

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)

                                                                         22
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                               Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

Using the data in Table 7, we estimated the following linear probability model via ordinary least squares (OLS),

                            Prob(Moverij = 1) =ß0+ ß1Salaryij+ß2Cultureij+ß3Controlsij+αi+γj+εij

where P(Mover) is a binary indicator equal to 1 for metro movers applying to job title i from metro j, and 0 otherwise;
Salary is the estimated base pay for the job opening; Culture is the employer’s overall Glassdoor 1-5 star rating;
Controls include age, education and gender of the job applicant; and α and γ are job title and metro fixed effects,
respectively. ε is the usual mean-zero error term for all other unobserved factors.

Our regression results are shown in Table 8. It shows the predicted impact each factor has on the probability that a
job seeker is a metro mover, with the corresponding standard errors in parentheses. In Column 1, we show estimates
that don’t control for any differences among job titles or metros. In Column 2, we control for differences in job titles.
Column 3 controls for both metro location and applicants’ job titles.

Here’s a summary of our key findings:

 • Salary drives candidates to move. But the effect                • Younger workers are more likely to be metro movers.
    of higher pay is small. Our estimates show an extra              On average, the older a worker, the less likely they’re
    $10,000 higher base salary predicts applicants are               willing to move for a job. In fact, each one higher
    about a half percentage point (0.41 percentage point)            age group (which corresponds to roughly ten years)
    more likely to be a metro mover for a job. That’s                predicts candidates will be 7 percentage points less
    statistically significant, but a small effect overall.           likely to be a metro mover. For employers who need
                                                                     to hire experienced candidates from other areas,
 • But better company culture is more attractive to                  recruiters should plan to actively recruit these
    movers. Applicants are 2.5 percentage points more                candidates — and be prepared to compensate more
    likely to move for a job at a company that has a 1-star          senior movers with either premium offers or have
    higher overall Glassdoor rating. That’s a statistically          excellent workplace culture.
    significant impact and is roughly six times larger than
    the impact of offering a $10,000 higher salary.                • Men are more likely to move metros, even after
                                                                     controlling for job titles, education and age. All else
 • The more educated, the more likely to move.                       equal, we found men in our sample were 3.3 percent-
    Workers with a master’s degree are about 4.9                     age points more likely to apply to jobs in another
    percentage points more likely they’ll be willing to              metro than women. That suggests employers look-
    move for a job. Those with a 2-year associate’s                  ing to attract metro movers should plan to make
    degree are least likely to move metros for a job and             conscious outreach efforts to women — particularly
    are 7.4 percentage points less likely to move metros.            in tech and engineering roles that attract the most
                                                                     metro movers — as women are statistically less likely
                                                                     to appear in employer applicant pools otherwise.

                                                              23
METRO MOVERS: WHERE ARE AMERICANS MOVING FOR JOBS, AND IS IT WORTH IT?                                                                            Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.

                          Table 8: Regression of Metro Movers on Salary, Company Culture and Controls

                                                                                        Model (1)                       Model (2)                   Model (3) Job Title and
   Variable (Impact on Probability of Being a Metro Mover)
                                                                                       No Controls                  Job Title Controls                Metro Controls
 Median Salary of Job (x $10,000)                                                        0.011***                           -0.002                         0.004***

                                                                                            (0.00)                          (0.00)                          (0.00)

 Glassdoor Company Rating                                                                0.027***                         0.016***                         0.025***
                                                                                            (0.01)                          (0.01)                          (0.01)

 Gender (Male = 1)                                                                       0.076***                         0.030***                         0.033***

                                                                                            (0.01)                          (0.01)                          (0.01)

 Age Group                                                                               -0.106***                        -0.066***                       -0.070***

                                                                                            (0.00)                          (0.00)                          (0.00)

 Associate’s Degree                                                                         -0.025                        -0.044**                        -0.074***

                                                                                            (0.02)                          (0.02)                          (0.02)

 Bachelor’s Degree                                                                          0.018*                          -0.005                          -0.013

                                                                                            (0.01)                          (0.01)                          (0.01)

 Master's Degree                                                                         0.126***                         0.067***                         0.049***

                                                                                            (0.01)                          (0.01)                          (0.01)

 Ph.D.                                                                                      0.071*                          -0.02                           -0.026

                                                                                            (0.04)                          (0.05)                          (0.05)

 Professional Degree (JD, MD, MBA)                                                          -0.03                           -0.01                           -0.02

                                                                                            (0.02)                          (0.02)                          (0.02)

 Constant                                                                                0.330***                         0.681***                         0.644***

                                                                                            (0.02)                           (0.1)                           (0.1)

 Controls:

    Job Title Controls                                                                                                         X                              X

    Metro Location Controls                                                                                                                                   X

 Observations                                                                               35,999                         35,999                          35,999

 Adjusted R2                                                                                 0.08                            0.15                            0.19

Note: Regression of a 0/1 dummy indicator for the presence of being a metro mover on various characteristics of jobs, candidates and employers.
Heteroskedasticity robust standard errors are shown in parentheses.
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research/)

                                                                                       24
IV. Conclusion
     In this study, we examined a large sample of online job                              culture matter. However, good company culture matters
     applications from Glassdoor to help better understand                                much more to applicants than pay — an employer having
     the types of candidates who are most willing to relocate                             a 1-star higher overall rating on Glassdoor can expect
     for jobs and why. What can employers trying to attract                               to attract a metro mover at about six times the rate of
     talent from across the U.S. learn from our findings?                                 employers paying a $10,000 higher salary, based on our
                                                                                          estimates. As we’ve shown in past research, pay matters
     First, most job candidates prefer to stay close to home.                             for talent attraction, but it’s statistically often a less
     So candidate pools for most jobs will typically be                                   important factor than having a strong employer brand.8
     comprised of local applicants. For employers choosing
     locations for new offices and facilities, it’s important to                          Fourth, women and more experienced workers are less
     look beyond monetary factors like taxes and real estate                              likely to apply to jobs outside their home metro, even
     costs. Employers should consider the local labor market                              after controlling for factors like education, pay and job
     and whether it contains the skills and education they’ll                             titles. For employers looking to hire specialized tech and
     need to hire, because most job applications will be                                  engineering jobs that attract the most metro movers, this
     coming from the nearby labor force.                                                  suggests employers will face less diverse applicant pools
                                                                                          on average unless they specifically recruit women and
     Second, some jobs are better able to attract talent from                             more experienced candidates. This is an often overlooked
     outside metros than others. Applicants for tech and                                  cause of applicant pools that lack diversity — something
     engineering roles on Glassdoor are most willing to                                   employers can overcome by targeting outreach efforts at
     relocate for jobs. However, applicants for many low-                                 these under-represented groups when hiring nationally
     er-skilled roles in retail, food services and some blue-                             for specialized roles.
     collar jobs are unlikely to apply to jobs outside their
     home metro — these are jobs employers will have to                                   America’s labor market is more dynamic than ever, with
     make a special effort for if they wish to recruit talent                             applicants increasingly researching and comparing jobs
     from more distant metro areas.                                                       online during their search process. This study illustrates
                                                                                          which candidates are most likely to move for jobs in
     Third, when it comes to enticing applicants to relocate,                             America today — and what employers can do to attract
     we find strong evidence that both pay and company                                    these mobile applicants in 2018.

      100 Shoreline Hwy, Mill Valley, CA 94941 glassdoor.com/research | Email: economics@glassdoor.com

8. See for example, “What Matters More to Your Workforce than Money,” (January 2017) by Andrew Chamberlain. Harvard Business Review.
Available at https://hbr.org/2017/01/what-matters-more-to-your-workforce-than-money.

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