By Relocation.com Staff
When it comes to the states that continue to attract newcomers, big still rules.
Based on an analysis of over 530,000 moving records from 2007 in the Relocation.com database, California and Texas were the two most popular states for people to move to in 2007. California, which has generally ranked No. 1 as a destination state, might seem a surprisingly hot locale for people to flock to, based on its outsized role in the housing meltdown.
(Check out our list of Best Cities for a Fresh Start.)
However, the data also reveal that California ranks first as the state people are most likely to move away from, followed closely by Florida, Texas, New York and Illinois. Either way you cut it, California moving companies are busy.
But so are Texas movers.
On a total percentage basis, Texas narrowly bests California as the most popular destination state (10.6% vs. 10.5%). But a closer look reveals that California still garners more people from out of state than Texas does. 60% of respondents listing Texas as a destination state live in Texas now, so their move is an intrastate, rather than an interstate move. Only 43% of people moving to a new location in California currently live in California; thus 57% of all moves to California are interstate moves.
The data show that 6% of the total sample has moved from another state to California, followed by Florida (5%) -- another state hard hit by the mortgage meltdown -- Texas (4%), New York (3%) and Georgia (2%).
California also ranks first as the state most likely for people in this sample to move from, with 7% of them moving from California to another state followed by Florida (5%), Texas and New York with 4% and Illinois with 2%.
Other interesting findings
- The No. 1 destination state for people moving from Hawaii is California, the No. 1 destination state for people moving from California is Texas while the No. 1 destination state for people moving from New York is Florida. New York is the No. 1 destination state for people moving from Florida.
- California is much more popular than Florida among Texas: Twice as many people moving from Texas move to California than move to Florida
- The Midwestern states disagree about the No. 1 state to move to: More people from Illinois and Minnesota move to California than Florida; the opposite is true of people moving from Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana
- 60% of all moves by Texans are within the state, compared to 46% of Illinois, 44% of California and 37% of New York.
- 66% of all moves by Floridians are out-of-state, more than any other state.
Interstate vs. intrastate moving
- About 43% of all moves listed in the database are intrastate moves -- that is, people moving from one city to another city within the same state. About 57% of all moves are interstate moves, i.e., people moving from one state to another state.
This figure differs markedly from US Census estimates, which show that only 19% of all US citizens who move make an interstate move. There's a simple explanation: The Relocation.com database is significantly biased toward interstate moves because people planning a move to a different state are more likely to seek moving quotes from professional movers, vs. people making an in-state move who opt to move themselves.