Some cities are characterized by an unusually high prevalence of residents who grew up in a region or have lived in a city for a long time. To gauge how deeply rooted residents are in their communities, Governing reviewed the latest estimates from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The following measures from the Census data were reviewed:
- Housing Longevity: Percentage of occupied housing units where the householder moved in before 2000
- Natives: Percentage of city residents who were born in-state
- Recent Migration: Percentage of city residents who haven't moved in from outside the county within the previous year.