South Carolina earns the title “#2 Moving Destination” while the Northeast loses residents for the third consecutive year.
Those are the key findings from
United Van Lines’ 38th Annual National Movers Study, which tracks customers’ migration patterns state-to-state during the course of the past year. The study found that
South Carolina earned its second place honor with 61 percent of moves to and from the state being inbound.
“With economic stability growing nationally, the current migration patterns reflect longer-term trends of movement to the southern and western states, especially to those where housing costs are relatively lower, climates are more temperate and job growth has been at or above the national average, among other factors,” said Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
While a variety of factors influence migration, the data points to an interesting trend: most job-related moves are heading south. According to a survey of United Van Lines customers, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida demonstrate a large percentage of inbound moves due to jobs.
According to this same customer survey conducted by United Van Lines, nearly 35 percent of those relocating to the South did so because of a new job, while 30.4 percent were transferred within their current company.
According to Dr. Michael Stoll, Professor of Public Policy at UCLA, the South represents one of the largest population bases in the United States. From mild climates to lower housing costs, it’s no wonder more and more people are moving to this region each year.
United has tracked migration patterns annually on a state-by-state basis since 1977. For 2014, the study is based on household moves handled by United within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. United classifies states as “high inbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves are going into a state, “high outbound” if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state or “balanced” if the difference between inbound and outbound is negligible.
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