2018 Relocation Trends

According to a new study on where Americans are relocating, New Jersey was the state people moved away from the most in 2018.

The primary reason for residents to leave the Garden State is to pursue a professional opportunity, finds the United Van Lines study, the deciding factor for 46 percent of survey respondents. New Jersey's outbound mover rate was 67 percent in 2018, and a 33 percent inbound rate. The second biggest reason found in the study was retirement, a 24 percent share, followed by 22 percent of respondents wanting to be closer to family, and 17 percent wanting a "lifestyle change." CNBC notes that a larger trend emerged from the research, that of a Northeast exodus, as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York ranked in the top 10 states where most residents were moving out, rather than in.

"The data aligns with longer-term migration patterns to southern and western states, trends driven by factors like job growth, lower costs of living, state budgetary challenges and more temperate climates," Michael Stoll, economist and professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, says in the report.

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