Kansas moved up a spot from last year in a ranking of the states most moved out of in 2016.
United Van Lines conducts the National Movers Study every year, which tracks customers state-to-state migration patterns over the past year and in 2016, Kansas moved up a spot to fifth place from last year in the top 10 outbound states, behind New Jersey, Illinois, New York and Connecticut.
The rankings are based on outbound percentages of total moves in each states and classifies states as “high outbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves were coming out of a state.
Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Utah and Pennsylvania topped off the top 10 outbound states for 2016.
As for 2016’s top 10 inbound list, the western U.S. was represented by five states – Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Nevada and Arizona. South Dakota ranked first on that list, which also included Vermont, North Carolina, South Carolina and District of Columbia.
“This year’s data reflects longer-term trends of people moving to the Pacific West, where cities such as Portland and Seattle are seeing the combination of a boom in the technology and creative marketing industry, as well as a growing ‘want’ for outdoor activity and green space,” said Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The aging Boomer population is driving relocation from the Northeast and Midwest to the West and South, as more and more people retire to warmer regions.”
The main reason for moves to those states, according to United Van Lines, was because of a new job or transfer, retirement and closer proximity to family.
“For nearly 40 years, we’ve been tracking which states people are moving to and from, and we’ve also recently started surveying our customers to understand why they are making these moves across state lines,” said Melissa Sullivan, director of marketing communications at United Van Lines. “Because of United Van Lines’ position as the nation’s largest household goods mover, our data is reflective of national migration trends.
California, New Mexico and Delaware actually gained the same number of residents who moved
