jan-2018

8 9 JAN./FEB. 2018 Opening Lines UNITED VAN LINES’ NATIONAL MOVERS STUDY SHOWS AMERICANS CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST AND SOUTH A mericans aremovingwestward,flocking to theMountain and PacificWest,while the Northeast andMidwest continue to lose residents.In 2017,more residentsmoved out of Illinois than anyother statewith 63 percent of moves being outbound.Vermont had the highest per- centage of inboundmigration in 2017with nearly68 percent of moves to and from the state being inbound. Those are the results of the UnitedVan Lines’41stAn- nual National Movers Study,which tracks customers’ state-to-statemigration patterns over the past year. As a region,theMountainWest continues to increase in popularitywith 54 percent of moves being inbound. TheWest is represented on the high-inbound list by Oregon (65 percent),Idaho (63 percent),Nevada (61 percent)Washington (59 percent),and Colorado (56 percent).Of moves toOregon,the highest ranking western state,a newjob or company transfer (49 percent) and proximity to family (24 percent) led the reasons for most inboundmoves. The southern states also sawa high number of peoplemoving inwith 52 percent of total moves being inbound.UnitedVan Lines found the top reasons for moving south included company transfer/newjob, retirement and proximity to family. TheNortheast continues to experience amoving deficit withNewJersey (63 percent outbound),New York (61 percent) and Connecticut (57percent) making the list of top outbound states for the third consecutive year.Massachusetts (56 percent) also joined the top outbound list this year. “For more than 40 years,UnitedVan Lines has been trackingwhich states people aremoving to and from. We also surveyour customers to understandwhy they aremoving fromstate-to-state,”saidMelissa Sulli- van,director of marketing communications at Unit- edVan Lines.“As the nation’s largest household goodsmover,the datawe collect is reflective of national migration trends.” “This year’s data reflects longer-term trends of movement to thewestern and southern states,especially to thosewhere housing costs are relatively lower, climates aremore temperate and job growth has been at or above the national average,among other fac- tors,”saidMichael Stoll,economist and professor in the Department of PublicPolicyat the Universityof California, LosAngeles.“We’re also seeing continuedmigra- tion to the PacificNorthwest andMountainWest as young professionals and retirees leave California.” TheMountainWest was themost popular desti- nation for retirees with one in four movers indicating theychose tomove to this location for retirement.Top regions attractingmovers taking newjobs included theMidwest (61 percent) and PacificWest (59 percent). The regionwith the largest exodus of residents due to finding jobs elsewherewas the South (61 percent). Across all regions,nearlyone in five of thosewho moved in 2017moved to be closer to family.