Interestingly, and maybe surprisingly, moving long-distance is less common than it was in the past. The total number of movers has decreased [1] while the percentage of those moves that are inter-state has stayed constant [2]. Another analysis from 2018 [3] looked specifically at people who move for jobs and found a huge drop since the 1980s.

In the really old days you would move somewhere (often because you heard that some industry was booming there) and then look for work. Today you can't do that without a lot of savings.

[1] https://www2.census.gov/library/visualizations/time-series/d...

[2] https://www2.census.gov/library/visualizations/time-series/d...

[3] https://www.challengergray.com/blog/historical-analysis-fewe...