Relocating for School or a Job at 19 to 25: The Checklist

If moving away feels like a big step, that is because it is one. You are trading the people and places that make life easy for a city where nothing is set up yet. The good news is that the practical side is mostly paperwork, and paperwork fits on a list. This is that list, plus the part nobody writes down: what you get out of going.

You are the moving age

Age	Moved in the past year
Everyone	7.8%
20 to 24	18.1%
25 to 29	18.9%

Source: US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2023. People in their twenties move at more than twice the national rate, mostly for exactly this reason: a school or a job somewhere else. You are not doing anything unusual. You are doing it for the first time, which is different.

If you are moving to train with us, our student housing is a furnished room near the Riverside airport at $1,300 a month, month to month, which removes about half of this list. The rest of it still applies. The rules quoted below are California's, because that is where people move to train with us. The shape of the list works in any state.

What you get out of it

Nobody puts this on a checklist, so here it is before the paperwork.

You come back a slightly different person. A German study followed 527 university students through a semester or a year away and compared them with 607 classmates who stayed. The ones who left came back more open, more agreeable and less anxious, even after accounting for the kind of person who chooses to go. The place itself was not what did it. It was the new friendships they had to build from nothing.

That study was about going abroad. Moving from Ohio to Riverside is a smaller version of the same thing: nobody there knows you yet, so you get to decide who shows up.

You get experiences your home city could not sell you. A roommate from a state you have never visited. A program or a job that does not exist within an hour of your parents' house. For our students it is a first solo flight in January, in a place where January is a flying month. None of that was on offer at home, which is the whole reason you are moving.

A second set of studies, six of them covering 1,874 people, found that living somewhere new also leaves people clearer about who they are and what they want to do for work. The mechanism is simple: away from home you find out which of your habits are yours and which were just your hometown's.

Home gets better from a distance. On the first trip back you notice things you walked past for twenty years: the taco place that is actually good, the view from the highway, how easy your mom makes it look. Some people find they miss it and move back later, with a plan this time. Others find they do not, which is just as useful to know. Either way, home becomes a place you chose instead of a place you were put.

Before you say yes to anything

Three numbers, written down, before you sign a lease or accept the offer.

Monthly rent plus utilities plus getting to work or school. Not just the rent. Ask the landlord what the utilities ran last year. Price the commute, whether that is gas, insurance and parking or a transit pass.
Cash to move in. First month's rent, the deposit, and the cost of the move itself. In a 2025 survey of 1,000 moving customers, a local move averaged $1,489 and a long-distance one $3,129 with professional movers. A car and two friends is cheaper. Either way, it is money that leaves before you have earned anything in the new place.
Months of runway. How many months you could pay line 1 if the income was late starting. Two is a minimum. Three is comfortable. Zero means you are one problem from moving home.

If those three add up to more than you have, the answer is a cheaper place, a roommate, or a later date. Not a credit card.

The lease

Read all of it. It is boring and it takes twenty minutes. The things that cost people money are in the paragraphs they skipped: the early termination fee, the notice period, who pays for what repairs, the pet and guest rules.
Know the term. A twelve-month lease for a nine-month program leaves you paying for three months of nothing, or finding a subletter. Ask for a term that matches, or a month-to-month arrangement. Furnished student housing is usually month to month for this reason.
Photograph everything on day one. Every wall, every appliance, every stain, with the date showing. Email them to yourself and the landlord. This is what gets your deposit back.
Get the application fee receipt. In California a landlord can charge an application screening fee, capped at $68.96 for 2026, and must give you a receipt and an itemized list of what it covered. Other states vary.
Never pay a deposit for a place you have not seen, in person or on a live video call with someone who is clearly standing in it. Wire-transfer deposits for unseen apartments are the most common rental scam there is.

The deposit

California caps it at one month's rent for leases signed from July 1, 2024, furnished or not. A small landlord who owns no more than two rental properties with four units or fewer between them may ask for two. If someone asks you for three months up front, that is no longer legal here.
It has to come back within 21 days of moving out, either in full or with an itemized statement of what was kept and why. Your day-one photos are the argument if you disagree.
Treat it as money you will see again, and behave accordingly: no unapproved paint, patch the nail holes, clean the oven.

The car

If you bring one, the DMV is the first stop.

Driver's license. Once you are a resident, which the DMV says includes things like paying resident tuition or taking a job here, swap your license for a California one. It is an appointment and a form.
Vehicle registration. An out-of-state car gets registered in California once you live here. The DMV has a fee calculator for out-of-state vehicles; run it before you arrive, because the number surprises people.
Insurance. Tell your insurer the new address and ZIP code. Rates change by location and an unreported move can void a claim.
Do you need the car at all? Price a month of it, insurance included, against where you will actually be going. Some students at a flight school do. Some find the airport is ten minutes away and the car sits.

Paperwork in the first month

Change your address with USPS. Online it costs $1.10, charged to a card as an identity check. Anything asking more is not the Postal Service.
Bank, employer, school, phone, every account with a statement. Do them in one sitting with a list.
Voter registration, if you want to vote where you live now.
Health insurance. If you are under 26 you can usually stay on a parent's plan. Check that the plan's network covers doctors where you are moving, and find a clinic and a pharmacy before you need one.
Renters insurance. It covers your things if the building burns or floods and your liability if you flood the downstairs neighbor. The US average premium was $171 a year in 2022. Some landlords require it. Get it the week you move in.

Money setup

Pull your credit reports. They are free every week from each of the three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Landlords and lenders will be reading them. You should have read them first.
One account for rent and bills, with the rent on autopay the day after your pay lands. A missed rent payment in your first year in a new city follows you.
A written budget for the first three months, against the three numbers you worked out above. Then check it at the end of month one. The first month is always more expensive than the plan.
If you are financing a program, know when the first payment is due and what it is. Our students' training loans defer payments 12 months, which is the point at which the budget has to change. How to pay for a career program federal aid does not cover covers the money side of the training itself.

Furnished or not

A furnished room costs more a month and saves you a truck, a mattress, a couch, a table and the day you would spend assembling them. For a stay of under a year it almost always wins. For longer, buying used and selling when you leave is cheaper. Either way, do not buy furniture before you have seen the room with a tape measure.

The first month

The paperwork is the easy part. The thing that actually sends people home early is three weeks of eating alone.

Build a routine in the first week, before you have a reason to. Same wake time, a place to study or work, a gym or a run, one meal a day that is not takeout.
Say yes to everything for a month. Every invitation from a classmate, a roommate, a coworker. You can get selective in month two.
Call home on a schedule, not when you are low. A fixed Sunday call is easier on everyone than a crisis call on a Wednesday.
Find your three places: a grocery store, a coffee shop or library, somewhere to walk. Knowing three places makes a city yours faster than anything else.

When not to move

The other side of the list, honestly.

When the move comes out of the training or tuition budget. The flying, or the course, is the thing you are buying. If moving means fewer lessons, the order is wrong.
When you have not confirmed the start. An enrollment date in writing, an offer letter, a signed contract. People have moved for programs that were full and jobs that were withdrawn.
When the thing you are moving for is available where you are. Moving is a tool for getting to the training or the job you cannot get at home. If you can, stay, and spend the deposit on the thing itself. Our why relocate for flight school guide is the version of that argument for pilots.
When you have not passed the gate. For a flying career that is a first-class medical. For many jobs it is a background check or a license exam. Pass it before the lease.

The checklist

Before you commit

Rent, utilities and commute priced for the month
Cash for first month, deposit and the move itself
Two to three months of runway
Start date, offer or enrollment confirmed in writing
Any gate passed: medical, background check, license exam

The lease

Read in full, including early termination and notice period
Term matches how long you will be there
Application fee receipt kept
Place seen in person or on a live video call
Deposit within the legal cap for your state
Day-one photos of every room, dated, sent to the landlord

The first weeks

Driver's license swapped
Vehicle registration moved
Car insurance told the new address
USPS change of address
Bank, employer, school, phone updated
Renters insurance in place
Health insurance network checked, a clinic and pharmacy found
Voter registration

Money

Credit reports read
Rent on autopay the day after pay lands
Three-month budget written, checked at the end of month one
Loan first-payment date in the calendar

The first month

A routine by the end of week one
Said yes to every invitation
Calls home on a schedule
Three places that are yours

Questions

How much money do you need to move out at 20?

Enough for the first month's rent, the deposit, the move itself, and two to three months of rent and bills in reserve in case income is late. In California the deposit is capped at one month's rent for most landlords, and professional movers averaged $1,489 for a local move and $3,129 long distance in a 2025 survey.

Do I need to get a California driver's license and registration after moving?

Yes, once you are a resident, which the DMV says includes taking a job or paying resident tuition. The license is an appointment and a form. For the car, run the DMV's out-of-state fee calculator before you arrive so the registration cost is not a surprise.

How much can a landlord ask for a security deposit in California?

One month's rent for leases from July 1, 2024, whether the place is furnished or not. A landlord who owns no more than two rental properties totaling four units or fewer may ask for two months. It must be returned, or itemized, within 21 days of moving out.

Should I rent furnished or unfurnished?

Furnished for anything under a year. The higher rent is usually less than buying and moving furniture you will sell at a loss. For longer stays, used furniture bought locally is cheaper.

Does moving away at 20 actually change you?

The research says yes, modestly. Students who spent a semester or a year away came back more open, more agreeable and less anxious than classmates who stayed, mostly because of the friendships they built from scratch. A separate set of studies found people who had lived somewhere new were clearer about who they are and what work they want. Both looked at moves abroad, so treat a move across the country as the smaller version.

Can I stay on my parents' health insurance if I move states?

Usually, until you turn 26. Check that the plan's network covers providers where you are moving, since some plans are regional, and find a clinic and a pharmacy before you need one.

Sources

Last reviewed October 2026. Deposit caps, fee limits and DMV rules are state rules and change, so check your state's own page before you rely on one of these numbers.