CHICAGO, June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Americans who relocated in 2024 sought out new locales, with the three most popular locations in the state of Texas—North Houston, Fort Worth and Austin. Overall, consumers left pricier and densely populated urban areas in favor of more affordable cities and suburbs in the southern U.S., according to TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) research focused on migration and its implications for insurers.

While migration rates have decreased steadily since pre-pandemic 2019, a significant number of consumers are making bold moves. More than a quarter (26%) of Americans who moved in 2024 relocated by distances ranging from 51 miles to 250 miles and beyond.

“As consumers continue to find new places to settle, it’s important for insurers to stay on top of the trends across segments,” said Patrick Foy, senior director of strategic planning for TransUnion’s Insurance business. “These changes can have implications for customer acquisition, risk and engagement.”

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Gen Z goes against the grain
The research found migration trends among consumers aged 30 and older largely held true. The majority left locales like New York, Chicago and Miami, with some slight variations in where they ended up. Baby Boomers and Silent Generation consumers primarily moved to smaller locales in South Carolina and Florida. Gen Xers also moved to those states, but Texas was their top destination. Millennials seemed to avoid Florida, instead dispersing across suburban markets Texas and North Carolina.

However, many Gen Z consumers moved in the opposite direction, landing in the same cities older Americans were leaving, like New York and Chicago.

“Gen Z’s migration patterns more closely reflect those of Millennials back in 2010,” said Foy. “And they are likely going for the same reasons: the allure of big city living and the prospect of work opportunities to help launch their careers.”

Staying connected to life insurance beneficiaries
When consumers move across state lines, public records do not always update accordingly. This can create problems for life insurance providers who then may not be able to locate a beneficiary or receive notification of death for their policyholder.

The majority of states require life insurers to monitor mortality status of policy holders and to conduct due diligence to contact beneficiaries. However, over recent years the federal government has limited access to the Social Security Death Master File (SS DMF). Those records now account for only 12% of TransUnion’s deceased file data—compared to 2010 when they accounted for 95%. 

Additionally, nearly six out of 10 consumers don’t even know how to find out if they are the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. This is underscored by the fact that each year tens of millions of dollars in life insurance payments go unmatched with beneficiaries.¹

TransUnion’s TruLookup™ Deceased Data utilizes multiple sources, including TransUnion proprietary data, obituary data, funeral home listings, state level sources, and more. Insurers who rely solely on the SS DMF are at a significant disadvantage for uniting benefits to beneficiaries.

“Life insurance companies that rely on public records alone will likely fail to deliver on their promise to customers,” said Karen Malone, senior director of strategic planning for TransUnion’s life insurance business. “They need a robust identity solution to give them real time updates on the status of their insureds and the location of their beneficiaries.”

Understanding a driver’s risk
Similarly, when a consumer with prior traffic violations moves to a new state or receives a traffic violation outside of their license state, their motor vehicle report (MVR) does not always capture those events.

Prior TransUnion research found that violations increased by 8% in 2024 compared to 2023—their highest point since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The study highlighted the strong correlation between traffic enforcement and roadway safety, along with reaffirming the power of violation data to predict future insurance losses.

TransUnion research notes that auto insurers should look beyond MVRs and investigate court records when assessing the risk of a new customer as they are less expensive than MVRs and provide a more comprehensive history. In addition, traffic violations have reached their highest point since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting there are increasingly more insights into drivers’ behavior on the road.

Learn more about TransUnion Insurance Risk solutions, including TruVision™ Driving History, here.
Learn more about TransUnion solutions for life insurance here.

1. “What to Know About Life Insurance Beneficiaries,” National Association of Insurance Commissioners, September 12, 2023
   

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)
TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good^® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world. http://www.transunion.com/business