Americans continue to flock to Arizona, Washington and New Mexico. They also favored southern states such as the Carolinas and Florida.
But it’s Idaho and Oregon that stood out as the most popular states for inbound moves, according to the 2019 United Van Lines' National Movers Study, an annual survey that tracks migration patterns on a state-by-state basis.
The study, however, did point out that although Vermont experienced the highest percentage of inbound moves overall, United Van Lines moved fewer than 250 families in and out of the state. The inbound and outbound rankings in this year's study only reflect states with 250 moves or more.
The study, based on household moves handled by United within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., and ranks states by the inbound and outbound percentages of total moves in each state, also revealed that for the second consecutive year more residents (68.5%) moved out of New Jersey than any other state. The Garden state has ranked among the top 10 outbound states for the past 11 years, the study noted.
Americans ages 55 to 74 accounted for more than 45% of all inbound United Van Lines moves in 2019, the study and an accompanying survey noted. But it wasn’t all due to retirement because many also relocated because of jobs.
Of the 67.4% entering Idaho, more than one-third (35.7%) did so for retirement; more than a quarter (26.4%) left for a job and 25% moved to be with family. This marks the first time Idaho has led the list of inbound states in more than 25 years, the study noted.
As for Oregon, nearly half (44.8%) of the 67.5% who moved there did so because of a job situation; slightly less than one quarter (24.65%) moved for family reasons; and 21.5% moved for retirement.
Florida, the study showed, was the top state where people headed to for retirement (40.5%) and for lifestyle change (23%). It noted that Florida, with an inbound percentage of 58.1%, joined the list of top 10 inbound states for the first time since 2015, ranking seventh.
States in the Mountain West and Pacific West regions, including Arizona (63%), Washington (59.5%) and New Mexico (44%), continued to see high percentages of inbound moves, and ranked among the top inbound states in the study's 2019 data.
Washington, D.C., saw the largest influx of residents due to a new job or company transfer at 78 percent.