Housing for migrant workers has become a major social challenge to the large-scale urbanization in China. Many studies have demonstrated housing disadvantages of temporary migrants in thatmigrants have limited access to both market-based housing due to their economic conditions and government-
sponsored affordable housing due to their official residency (hukou). In particular，much literature has analyzed institutional and individual factors of migrant housing conditions. This paper，however，investigates the extent to which migrant workers are able to move from employer-provided dorms or housing provided by social ties to market-based housing while working and living in cities，and institutional and individual factors contributing to such changes. Statistical analysis using data derived from a twelve-city migrant survey shows that，whereas most migrant workers live in dorms from employers and housing from social ties upon moving to cities，many of them gradually move to rent or even purchasing housing from formal and informal housing markets. The odds of such change are significantly influenced by factors such as years of working in the city，types of migration，willingness to permanently settle in the city，migrant social capital，education and types of Danwei .