Russians' Regional Preferences

Pack your bags to move to a new region in Russia! Image by Sandrine Z via Wikimedia Commons

Russia is a huge country with many regions, all of which have their own unique appeal. Some Russians, however, want to move to a different region, according to data collected from 10,205 respondents in Russia by HeadHunter in September and October.

According to their data, fully a fifth of Russians (20%) want to move to a different region, while more than a third (39%) think about it periodically. Less than one third don’t want to move (31%), and 10% haven’t considered it or had difficulty answering the question.

Respondents in the Arkhangelsk region, the Komi Republic, and Yakutia had the highest percentage of those wanting to move (at 50% each). On the opposite side of the spectrum, respondents in Moscow and St. Petersburg had the lowest percentage of people wanting – six and seven percent, respectively.

In terms of the reasons for wanting to move, respondents in the Arkhangelsk region reported the bad ecology and uncomfortable climate (53%). Respondents from Komi pointed to low pay rates (62%).

HeadHunter also gathered information on what regions people would like to move to. Unsurprisingly, Moscow and St. Petersburg were among the top three at 24% and 13% respectively, and rounding out the top three is the Krasnodar Krai, at 18% (beating out St. Petersburg as a popular place to move).

In terms of the most popular characteristics of Moscow, most respondents who want to move there (85%) cited the high level of pay. Krasnodar Krai is attractive to Russians because of its comfortable climate, according to 88% of respondents wanting to move there. And St. Petersburg is considered a comfortable city environment by 61% of respondents.

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