The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released a report July 7 analyzing data collected by United Van Lines in the company's "45th Annual National Movers Survey." The annual study tracks the company's exclusive data for customers' state-to-state migration patterns.
Data from the survey indicates that Vermont is the state with the highest percentage of inbound migration during 2021, at 74 percent. South Dakota follows with 69 percent, South Carolina at 63 percent, West Virginia at 63 percent and Florida at 62 percent.
States with the highest percentage of outbound migration include New Jersey at 71 percent, Illinois at 67 percent, New York at 63 percent, Connecticut at 60 percent and California at 59 percent. In addition to the state-by-state data, United Van Lines conducts an accompanying survey to examine the motivations and influences of Americans' interstate moves.
Primary reason for move 2018-19 2020-21
Job change or transfer 51.4 percent 37.1 percent
Physically closer to family 23.2 percent 29.6 percent
Retirement/lifestyle 29.8 percent 31.8 percent
The United Van Lines data analysis shows that the pre-pandemic move patterns were mostly the same as pandemic-era moves. However, the number of moves was substantially lower after the pandemic began.