EVANSTON, Ill. — Americans are on the move, and even more are thinking about a change of scenery in the near future. A new poll has found that one in four people have moved in the last five years, and the most popular destination is sunny Florida.
Researchers with CraftJack examined U.S. Census Bureau data and surveyed over 1,000 Americans to find out where people are heading and why. That study discovered Florida tops the list of states Americans are moving to and is the third-most popular state Americans want to move to in the future.
Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina rounded out the top five states people are moving to. As for why, the top reason respondents gave was moving to take a new job in another state. Moving closer to family, lowering their cost of living, wanting to live in a new place, and a desire to be in a warmer climate make up the five biggest motives for a move.
On average, moving costs Americans $3,946. Luckily, 88 percent say that money was well spent and they’re happy with their move. Only 12 percent are unhappy with their move. Of these respondents, 88 percent would go back to their old state.
Overall, the average person has moved six times their lifetime.
Calexit is real
As for the states Americans are fleeing in droves, California tops the list. Other highly-populated states with big cities like New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey rounded out the top five areas people are leaving behind.
Interestingly, California still ranked as the second-most popular state people say they want to move to in the future and the most popular state they’d move to if they could afford it. In reality, however, it seems more people are happy to leave the west coast in the rearview mirror.
When it comes to the neighborhoods Americans want to live in, more people are moving into and out of the suburbs. In fact, 55 percent say they left the suburbs in recent years and 48 percent moved to the suburbs.
More people moved to an urban area (37%) than moved out of the cities (30%). The same number of people are trading places in rural areas (15%).
Methodology:
In September 2022, CraftJack researchers surveyed 1,058 Americans to learn more about their moving habits. Respondents were 48% male, 48% female, and 4% transgender/non-binary. The average age of respondents was 38. They also analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s measure of “Net Domestic Migration” to determine the top 15 inbound and top 15 outbound U.S. states from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021.