Where Do Americans Choose to Live?

Thinking of moving somewhere else? In a study involving 530,000 moving records, researchers found that when it comes to relocation, majority of Americans still prefer the big cities.

Based on the 2007 records, California and Texas ranked the list of states where people choose to settle in. Tagged as a "destination state", it seems surprising that more people are choosing California because the state is too warm. However, it was also shown in the records that California is the top state where people would most likely go away from. This is again followed by Texas. New York and Illinois come next.

Most Popular States in the US

But on totality, researchers found that Texas outscored California as the most popular state for moving. Nonetheless, if we're going to look at it closely, the Golden State still obtain the most number of people moving from other states as compared to Texas. You can just imagine how busy moving companies are in these places - both local and interstate.

Speaking of local and interstate moves, the data shows that only 43% constitute those who simply moved to a new location while the remaining 57% are from different states. But in Texas, it's the other way around. It was shown that 60% (which makes up the majority) of the moving population were local in nature while the remaining 40% constitutes interstate moves.

Researchers also asked the respondents on what states they would most likely move to. Here, California still ranks first but it was followed by Florida this time, then New York, and Illinois.

Data on Local and Interstate Moves

Overall, Americans prefer interstate moving or relocating to another state than simply changing their local address. Local moves only make up 43% of the entire figure while state-to-state moves comprise 57%. These findings are in contrast with the results provided by the US Census. In the said data, only 19% of the American population chose moving to another state. Why? This is because individuals who move to a different state usually obtain quotes from professional moving companies while those who move locally don't normally seek professional help.

More Interesting Findings

You might find it odd but below are facts obtained by analyzing the moving statistics for the past years:
  • Majority of people from Hawaii preferred to relocate in California while those who are from California chose to move in Texas. The record also revealed that twice as many people from Texas are relocating to California. This means Californians still wear the crown when it comes to moving.

  • Texas got the most number of local moves - 60%, followed by Illinois - 46%, California - 44%, and New York - 37%.

  • Majority of New Yorkers chose Florida as the place where they would want to settle in while people from Florida are most likely to move to New York.

  • Between California and Florida, people from Minnesota and Illinois chose to move to the Golden State. Nonetheless, Florida garnered movers from Indiana and Michigan.