A new Pew Research report finds as a nation most people are staying put. 

As a nation, the United States is often portrayed as restless and rootless. Census data, though, indicate that Americans are settling down. Only 13% of Americans changed residences between 2006 and 2007, the smallest share since the government began tracking this trend in the late 1940s.

A new Pew Social & Demographic Trends survey finds that most Americans have moved to a new community at least once in their lives, although a notable number -- nearly four-in-ten -- have never left the place in which they were born. Asked why they live where they do, movers most often cite the pull of economic opportunity. Stayers most often cite the tug of family and connections. 

The report also finds home means different things to different people. Among U.S.-born adults who have lived in more than one community, nearly four-in-ten (38%) say the place they consider home isn't where they're living now. But there's a wide range of definitions of "home" among Americans who have lived in at least one place besides their original hometown: 26% say it's where they were born or raised; 22% say it's where they live now; 18% say it's where they have lived the longest; 15% say it's where their family comes from; and 4% say it's where they went to high school.

Among all respondents to the Pew Research Center survey, 57% say they have not lived in the U.S. outside their current state: 37% have never left their hometown and 20% have left their hometown (or native country) but not lived outside their current state.

Analysts say migration has declined because the U.S. population is getting older and most moves are made when people are young. Another brake on moving is the rise of two-career couples, because it is more difficult to coordinate a relocation when two jobs are involved.

To read the full report from the Pew Organization, go here.

(Photo of sunnset by flickr user Fandayou_0088 used under a Creative Commons license.)