A driver in the multifamily industry is the long-standing patterns of population migration throughout the US. They typically move from once heavily settled areas like in the Northeast to the South. But this data is not necessarily a reliable indicator for apartment landlords that would like to get a handle on demographic trends affecting their business.

Not that data providers haven't tried. One recent example is Apartment List, which analyzed data on millions of searches to see where its users are looking to move. It's not exactly the most accurate way to capture this movement. A search, after all, isn't the same as a move and users of one system aren't necessarily representative of the broader population.

But often imperfect information is useful. While you could use United States Postal Service change of address data, that isn't cheap, and the Census Bureau isn't necessarily easy to navigate. So, here's what can be learned easily for free.