HARTFORD — A study done by United Van Lines, which tracked customers’ state-to-state migration patterns over the past year, states that people are heading west, while othe Notheast, including Connecticut, are losing residents.
United Van Lines, a moving company based out of St. Louis, released its 41st annual National Movers Study. The study shows that the Northeast continues to experience a moving deficit with New Jersey (63 percent outbound), New York (61 percent) and Connecticut (57 percent) 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, United Van Lines has been tracking which states people are moving to and from. We also survey our customers to understand why they are moving from state-to-state,” said Melissa Sullivan, director of marketing communications at United Van Lines. “As the nation’s largest household goods mover, the data we collect is reflective of national migration trends.”
The West 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 to Oregon, the highest ranking western state, a new job or company transfer (49 percent) and proximity to family (24 percent) led the reasons for most inbound moves, said the company.
United Van Lines has tracked migration patterns annually on a state-by-state basis since 1977.
For 2017, the study is based on household moves handled by United within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. This study ranks states based off the inbound and outbound percentages of total moves in each state. United classifies states as “high inbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves are going into a state, “high outbound” if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state or “balanced” if the difference between inbound and outbound is negligible.
