Isn’t it great to be #1? Well, not when it’s a list of states sorted by people fleeing the state. And that’s the list contained in United Van Lines’ National Movers Study, released last month, where they calculate the percentage of total moves that are from the state (as opposed to to the state). They do this once a year and this year Illinois is at the top of this infamous list. 63.4% of the moves involved people leaving the state, compared to only 32.3% leaving Vermont. Bernie Sanders must be a huge Vermont draw.
The dynamic map below shows which states are attracting people (blue) and which states are repelling people (yellow) at 5 year increments. Darker yellow means a higher percentage of people leaving and darker blue means a higher percentage of people arriving. Gray is balanced.
The general trend for 2017 was people leaving the midwest and going to the northwest and southeast. I’m really surprised that Texas doesn’t have more people moving in, given it’s economic growth. In looking at the 5 year increments below you can see that Illinois has a proud tradition of losing people going back 37 years.
It should be noted that this data is based solely upon moves handled by United Van Lines so it doesn’t really qualify as a scientific study but they are a large mover and they should be relatively representative of the truth.
According to Michael Stoll, economist and professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles:
This year’s data reflects longer-term trends of movement to the western and southern states, especially to those where housing costs are relatively lower, climates are more temperate and job growth has been at or above the national average, among other factors. We’re also seeing continued migration to the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West as young professionals and retirees leave California.
Yep. California is a killer with it’s high housing prices, high taxes, droughts, mudslides, earthquakes, and forest fires. But it’s a great place to visit.
As you would expect, the main reasons people have given for moving is jobs, retirement, and being closer to family.
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Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service discount real estate brokerage. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market, get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry, or you just think he’s the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.