Based on 71,474 Interstate and Cross-Border Household Goods Relocations
from January 1, 2009
through December 31, 2009.
(Click on individual state/province for 10-year historical data.)
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As it does each January, Atlas Van Lines reviews data on the origins and destinations of interstate relocations during the last 12 months. The 2009 Migration Patterns study results provide a snapshot of a nation in the wake of an economic downturn, as relocations slow and the nation migrates to areas with low unemployment.
Again this year, data showed the Midwest losing residents while the Southwest, Northeast and Southeast were popular destinations. Atlas' total interstate and cross-border relocations were down nearly 16 percent from 2008.
Other migration trends:
Texas, New Mexico, and for the first time in five years, Oklahoma are popular destinations. However, neighboring Colorado, which has historically been an inbound state, became balanced in its number of moves, meaning the numbers of people relocating in and out were about equal.
The South Atlantic states of Virginia, North Carolina and Washington D.C. are popular destinations, with Washington D.C. showing the nation's highest percentage of inbound traffic for the fourth year in a row. For the first time in four years, Maryland joins the Southeast pocket of states as inbound.
In the Northeast, Vermont and New Hampshire have surfaced as popular destinations.
Outbound relocations from the Rust Belt states continue, but for the first time in 10 years, Illinois joins neighbors Indiana, Michigan and Ohio as outbound. Indiana has been an outbound state for more than a decade while Michigan ranks in the top four outbound states.
Residents are leaving North and South Dakota, an unusual trend because both states have historically been inbound or balanced for more than a decade. Because unemployment rates are low in both states, what's causing the shift is unknown.
Each state/province has a threshold value, which is the total number of shipments multiplied by 0.55 (for example, in a state with 100 relocations, at least 55 of them would have to be outgoing to classify the state as outbound). A state/province is considered:
- Outbound when outbound shipments exceed the threshold.
- Inbound when inbound shipments exceed the threshold.
All other states are classified as balanced. Shipments noted for Canada are cross-border-to the United States or from the United States (not inter-provincial).
