Moving Trends: The Top States Americans Are Relocating To

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a change in how people moved throughout the country. Remote work made it possible for people to deviate from the norm of choosing a residence that was close to their place of employment.

More than 80% of workers commuted an hour and a half or less to work prior to the pandemic. Now, more than one in four respondents to an Upwork survey who indicated they had moved said their new home was more than four hours away from their job.

The Pew Research Center estimated that 22% of Americans relocated during the pandemic. This exceeded the 13% to 14% average years prior.

That resulted in an influx for certain states in 2022 and an outflow from others. MovingBuddha says, "densely-populated urban areas lost twice as many residents in 2020 as in previous years." That remained true into 2022.

Here are the top 10 states Americans have moved to this year:

1. Hawaii
2. Alaska
3. Montana
4. South Carolina
5. Maine
6. North Carolina
7. Florida
8. Tennessee
9. Wyoming
10. Vermont

There are however several states that people seem to be avoiding, perhaps as a result of higher rents.

Densely populated urban states are the least sought-after locations, with many more people looking to leave than settle there.

The following 10 states saw the least influx of people this year:

1. New Jersey
2. California
3. Illinois
4. New York
5. Connecticut
6. Utah
7. Maryland
8. Rhode Island
9. Louisiana
10. Virginia

The top five states mentioned above are also among the most densely populated, which is consistent with the trend of people relocating from cities to smaller, more rural towns.

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Photo: BalanceFormCreative via Shutterstock