Last year, I compiled a time series of migration sales from past studies to get the nationwide trend of moving (see: HELLO ARIZONA, IDAHO, VERMONT! AMERICANS ON THE MOVE, 2013-2017.).
Before getting into the trend, from the 2018 National Movers Study, New Jersey tops the list of states from which US residents flee. That fails to surprise me.
Back in April of 2018, while on a consulting tour, I hopped a plane in Philadelphia en route to booming Greenville, South Carolina. A woman who sat next to me was leaving her grandkids behind in New Jersey. She had moved recently to South Carolina to avoid the high taxes and general oppressive life foisted upon residents by successive governments of New Jersey as she put it.
Note: There is no data for either Alaska or Hawaii.
The Five Year Average
Nothing has changed in order of the top five states over the last five years from 2017-2013 to 2018-2014. Notably though, Oregon has jumped into 6th from 7th. Tennessee has moved to 8th from 10th and Nevada has moved from 14th to 9th. Likely, Californians continue to flee into neighboring Oregon and Nevada.
Ranked 7th and 9th in 2017, Montana and Wyoming have fallen to 11th and 10th, respectively.
Keep in mind this, for 2018, even though Vermont tops the list as it did in 2017 on a percentage basis, there were 56 times as move-ins to Texas as there were to Vermont.
Moving Average Moving Trends
This table reveals the migration trends according to moving averages going to back to 2012.The pace at which people flee oppressive government states California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey continues to quicken.
Likely, people exit these states for economic reasons and have done so steadily for awhile: Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
For some states, its a mix of bad governance, harsh climate and the lack of economic opportunity. States like Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania come to mind.
Gab It
