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U-Haul’s annual analysis of inbound and outbound movers pegged Washington as the 6th most popular destination. Among move-to cities, Tacoma was the highest ranking in the state, landing 5th on that list.
A similar study by United Van Lines also had Washington among the top 10 states for inbound migration in 2017. Reporting on 110,000 interstate moves, that company said 59 percent of last year’s relocations involving Washington were inbound.
Texas topped U-Haul’s list, retaining the title from 2016. Rounding out the top five were Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee. U-Haul’s data is based on more than 1.7 million one-way truck rentals entering the state versus leaving a state during a calendar year.
U-Haul’s “growth city” list had Tempe, Arizona in first place followed by Boise, Miami, Atlanta, and Tacoma. Olympia was No. 11; no other city in Washington was among the top 25 cities for in-migration. The rankings are based on information from all 50 states and U-Haul’s network of 21,000 locations.
United’s top inbound states were Vermont (#1), Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and North Dakota. Its analysis of why people moved to Washington indicated 51 percent do so for a job, 23 percent move for family reasons, 15 percent chose the state for its retirement destination, 14 percent cited lifestyle reasons, and 8 percent come here for their health.
Outbound moves were highest in Illinois, followed by New Jersey (#2), New York, Connecticut and Kansas, according to United’s report.
The number of Americans moving to new locations has been slowly declining in recent years. U.S. Census Bureau figures show 11 percent of the population moved in 2017.