Americans continue to move south, with Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and North Carolina as leading 2019 destinations

Allied Van Lines, one of the world's largest moving companies, issued its annual Magnet States Report today, highlighting migration trends identified in their consumer and corporate moves throughout 2019.

The migration of Americans from one state to another is critically important to understand, especially ahead of a census year. Census results help determine how funding is budgeted for each state and community, and also determines how many seats in Congress each state gets.

The top five destination states for consumers who moved with Allied in 2019 from highest to lowest volume were: Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and North Carolina. Florida, the ‘Sunshine State’, has continued to be the top destination for Allied consumers for the last six years thanks to its lower cost of living, no state income tax, warm weather and affordable housing options.

In 2019 the top destination city for consumers was Austin, TX – the nation’s fastest growing city. Geographically-centered in the ‘Lone Star State’, Austin benefits from a high concentration of major companies and tech start-ups located in the city, a lower cost of living, a healthy outdoor living culture and an abundance of job opportunities.

For work-related moves, the top destinations from highest to lowest volume were to: Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and North Carolina. Texas, with its business-friendly climate, has ranked as the top move destination for Allied corporate customers for the last six years. The high influx of corporations moving to Texas makes it a highly desirable destination for top talent.

In 2019, the top destination city for corporate moves was Houston, TX. Houston is the nation’s most diverse city, has no state income tax, and is a hub for the energy, healthcare and manufacturing industries. It is known for having a high quality of life and more affordable housing options than other major metropolitan cities. Houston has a strong job market, with its unemployment rate staying below four percent for the last seven months.

Allied Van Lines’ Magnet States Report data aligns with Census Bureau estimates reported in April 2019, that counties in the South and West lead the country in terms of population growth.

Other interesting data points from Allied moves in 2019 include:

  • The most popular month for Allied corporate moves was June, and the most popular day of the week to move was Friday
  • Allied consumer customers still prefer to move in June; however, in 2019 the most popular day to move changed from Tuesday to Friday, allowing for a full weekend of unpacking and settling in
  • Allied consumer and corporate customers moved a total of 421,780,231 miles over the last six years, which is equal to over 16,937 trips around the world
  • Allied moved 2,901,925,701 pounds of household goods and personal effects over the last six years, which is equal to moving over 16,582 fully loaded airplanes.

“Our mission is to help people get to where they need to go to for a new beginning, be closer to their families, for career opportunities and to grow their business,” said Lesli Bertoli, general manager and vice president of Allied Van Lines. “It’s interesting to see Americans continuing to migrate South and West this year and we look forward to seeing how this trend evolves in the new decade.”

METHODOLOGY

To determine moving trends, Allied Van Lines reviewed its own proprietary, aggregated customer move data, which includes consumer and corporate moves from 2019 from January 1 through December 5, 2019 and consumer and corporate moves over the last six years.