I’m not sure folks were super willing to relocate in the early days of the US. Place and family mattered a lot back then. My guess is the “never” in the headline really means “not at any point in the past 100 years or so”.
To me, it’s not necessarily a bad thing if more folks are staying put, living near long-established family and social networks, caring a bit less about careers and a bit more about life.
I think the situation may have been far more varied than a nostalgic: "Place and family mattered a lot back then"
I suspect that place and family has generally always important.
Yet, early US it took weeks/months for communication to occur over long distance.
Also, let's not forget westward expansion, a thing that lasted even into more recent times. It was quite common for adult children to move west to homestead. There's also immigration to consider, which is a big example of relocation, and these future American's and their descendants continued to migrate (in the early days of the US)
Parents in most of the country are pissed that kids have to move to find a good job. Parents in cities are pissed our kids have to move in order to afford housing.
My great-great grandfather moved to Wisconsin from Scotland back in the "early days" of the US. Nobody in my family has moved as far since, save the Mennonite branch who fled Germany.
To me, it’s not necessarily a bad thing if more folks are staying put, living near long-established family and social networks, caring a bit less about careers and a bit more about life.