15 States Where People Are Fleeing

Published on February 5, 2024 at 5:21 pm by Zarah Hamid in Business, Lists, News

In this article, we will be navigating through the migrations across the states and the motivational factors behind them. We will also be covering the 15 states where people are fleeing. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 States Where People Are Fleeing.

State-to-State Migration on the Rise

As reported by the US Census Bureau, people who moved between the states increased from almost 7.9 million people in 2021 to nearly 8.2 million people in 2022. Even when overall migration dropped, state-to-state migrations experienced a rise. While analyzing the migration flows across the states, it can be noticed that the largest group of people moved between highly populated states. For instance, 102,442 people moved from California to Texas while 91,201 movers migrated from New York to Florida. Movers also left highly populated states for their neighboring states as in the case of those who moved from New York to New Jersey. Connecticut also welcomed a large proportion of movers from neighboring states including New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

Factors Driving the Urge to Move

An analysis of the trends in relocating from one state to another suggests that some of the main factors that drive the urge to move include affordability, employment, weather, and family. Let’s go through all of them to understand the dynamics of the increasing state-to-state flows.

The ability to own and afford a house in a new location motivated numerous Americans to move. As reported by the National Association of Realtors, some movers had affordability concerns which made them relocate to cheaper states. The majority of Americans chose to settle in a state where they could conveniently purchase a house even if opportunities for employment were not many. This implies that affordability was a larger factor as compared to career prospects for those moving between US states. This is evident from the fact that states that created the most jobs such as Illinois, New York, and California witnessed high outbound rates. An exception to this trend is the states of Texas and Florida which had many new jobs and high inbound rates. Since housing affordability was a primary motivation, states with the highest median home prices such as California and Hawaii saw a lot of people moving out.

The primary concern regarding affordability was also tied to work reasons to some extent since some moves from more expensive states to relatively cheaper states were made considering the ability to work from home which is an emerging post-pandemic trend. This relation can be observed in the case of New York and California.

New York and California were the top two states that had the highest number of people moving out as a share of their total number of movers. Many New Yorkers moved to cheaper states such as New Jersey where they still had the ease of commuting to work. Many of those who were employed in tech or banking realized that they could pursue their jobs remotely. Hence, moving to a place closer to New York which offered a lower cost of living as well as the perks of being with family tended to be a fair option. Simultaneously, people from California migrated to Texas and Arizona, states where the tech industry has been rapidly progressing. The rising cost of living and the threat from wildfires have also been cited as reasons to leave California. However, you can view some of the cheapest places to buy a house in California.

Weather, family, and life after retirement were other factors which were less common. On September 4, 2023, Forbes reported that less congested and warmer places are being chosen as places to settle in, leaving behind large cities and bad weather conditions. In 2022, numerous New Yorkers chose a warmer state such as Florida as their new destination. Some of the best places to live in the US for the weather have also been previously covered. Other reasons leading to moves include family. Similarly, retirement-related reasons also convince some people to move to a desirable location. As the US population ages at a rapid rate, the migrations following retirement are likely to increase. You can also take a look at some of the US states with the oldest populations.

Companies Facilitating Domestic Moves

Companies that help Americans with their domestic moves include The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL), and Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW). Let’s take a look at how these firms have been facilitating domestic moves.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is a popular home improvement retail corporation. The company offers access to moving truck and cargo van rentals in case of both short moves as well as distant migrations across the US. Based on the size of the move, moving supplies are also provided by The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD). The firm partners with trusted movers including Bellhop which has made more than 300,000 moves possible. Local movers from Bellhop also assist with loading and unloading as well as rearranging belongings.

U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) is a moving truck, trailer, and self-storage rental company. Moving Help is a marketplace powered by the company, through which local labor can be easily hired to aid with loading and unloading. Those who wish to move can simply enter their location and find a moving company according to the budget they have. U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) also offers U-Box moving containers which can help those who are unsure where to move to. Moving Help delivers these boxes to a local U-Haul center where they can be stored until the customer has finalized the destination.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) is another retail company that specializes in home improvement. The firm offers truck rentals which can help haul any supplies. Customers can call their local Lowe’s store to get access to a rental truck, if available. Small to medium-sized moves can be conducted using moving trucks from Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW). The company has been enabling local and long-distance household moves for more than 90 years. Free in-home estimates for every move planned are also given by the sales team to the customers.

Now that we have taken a look at some of the moving services being offered by companies, we can move to the 15 states where people are fleeing.

15 States Where People Are Fleeing

Our Methodology:

In order to compile a list of the 15 states where people are feeling, we sourced data from the National Association of Realtors. The most recent data was available from 2022. We selected the net migration rate for every state as our metric. This is because net migration represents the difference between inbound and outbound moves in each state. Thus, states with the lowest net migration rates are those where people are fleeing. We have ranked the 15 states where people are fleeing in descending order of their net migration.

15 States Where People Are Fleeing

15. Colorado

Net Migration: -9,324

During 2022, 50.99% of people moved out of Colorado as a share of the state’s total movers. Net migration for the state was recorded at -9,324. Hence, Colorado ranks among US states where people are moving out.

14. Washington

Net Migration: -9,430

Washington had an outbound rate of 50.93% during 2022 while the inbound share of movers was less. In 2022, net migration for Washington was recorded at -9,430 which makes it one of the states where people are fleeing.

13. Michigan

Net Migration: -9,930

In 2022, net migration for Michigan was recorded at -9,930. The state ranks as one of the top states where people are moving out since the outbound movers accounted for 51.52% of the total movers.

12. Hawaii

Net Migration: -11,048

Hawaii had an outbound rate of 54.47% during 2022 while the inbound share of movers was less than 50%. In 2022, net migration for Hawaii was recorded at -11,048 thereby ranking it among other US states where people are fleeing.

11. Minnesota

Net Migration: -13,791

In 2022, net migration for Minnesota was recorded at -13,791. The state had an outbound rate of 52.78%. Hence, Minnesota qualifies for the 15 states where people are moving out at a rapid rate.

10. Virginia

Net Migration: -15,080

In 2022, net migration in Virginia was recorded at -15,080. Outbound moves exceeded the inbound moves in the state thereby ranking Virginia as one of the top 15 states where people are fleeing.

9. Pennsylvania

Net Migration: -15,999

Pennsylvania ranks as one of the states where people are moving out. The state qualifies as one of the leading states in negative net migration. During 2022, net migration for Pennsylvania was recorded at -15,999.

8. Utah

Net Migration: -17,949

The 15 states where people are fleeing include Utah as well. The state had an outbound rate of 54.47% in 2022 which is quite high. Net migration for Utah was recorded at -17,949.

7. Louisiana

Net Migration: -30,567

In 2022, Louisiana had an outbound rate of 58.43%. This rate exceeded the inbound share of movers for the state. Net migration for Louisiana was recorded at -30,567.

6. Massachusetts

Net Migration: -43,567

Massachusetts ranks among the US states where most people are moving out. This is evident from its outbound rate of 55.65% during 2022. Net migration for Massachusetts was recorded at -43,567.

Click to continue reading and see 5 States Where People Are Fleeing.