North American Van Lines Inc., a household, international, corporate, and long-distance professional moving company, released its annual migration map that details where Americans moved this past year.
The map uncovered a sizable trend of Americans leaving high-cost-of-living areas for warmer climates with more reasonable housing conditions, noting Southern states received the largest amounts of movers.
The map highlights the association between Southern states lessening COVID-19 restrictions first in 2020, as well as lower tax rates, which Americans, coupled with warmer temperatures, may find appealing.
Top inbound states uncovered within the map include South Carolina (66 percent), North Carolina (64 percent), Tennessee (64 percent), Arizona (57 percent), and Florida (56 percent). Top outbound states include Illinois (65 percent), California (62 percent), New Jersey (61 percent), and Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York (59 percent tie).
Top inbound cities uncovered within the map include Raleigh, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Nashville, Tenn.
“Across the board, a clear trend of Americans leaving expensive, highly taxed and cold states for warmer states with lower tax burdens can be observed, at both the state and city level,” said Ryan Cox, director of consumer channel at North American Van Lines. “It’s a continuation of what we saw in 2021 and 2020. We’re interested to see if these trends continue throughout 2023.”
Overall, the number of moves in 2022 was less than 2021 and 2020. For the fourth year in a row, Illinois had the most significant percentage of outbound moves, while Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina maintained their spots at the top of the inbound state list since 2020.
Final considerations going into the selection of these inbound states include flexibility for remote work and the potential for an easy retirement.
Access the entire report at North American Van Lines.