LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – New studies from U-Haul and United Van Lines rank Michigan as a top three and four state, respectively, for the number of residents leaving for greener pastures. 

U-Haul reports that Michigan ranked 48th out of 50 as a preferred destination for one-way moving van customers, and that Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas remained preferred destinations.  

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“Demand for equipment out of California, Illinois and New York remained strong in 2022, as more people opted to leave areas of the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest,” the report said. “California and Illinois ranked 50th and 49th, respectively, on the U-Haul Growth Index for the third consecutive year, meaning those states saw the greatest net losses of one-way U-Haul trucks.”

The moving company declares itself the “authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces,” in part because of its 23,000 U-Haul truck- and trailer-sharing locations.  U.S. Census data is consistent with the moving company’s findings, showing that more than 40,000 Michigan residents have departed from the Great Lakes state since 2020.  

The United Van Lines recently released its 46th Annual National Movers Study on Jan. 2 showing that the wolverine state was the fourth state in losing residents to other states.  Michigan fell behind New Jersey, Illinois, and New York in the study.  

“Our United Van Lines study and survey offers year-over-year insights into where and why Americans are moving,” United Van Lines Vice President of Corporate Communications, Eily Cummings, said in a statement.  “For the last several years, Idaho was a top destination, as Americans migrated from Northern California, Washington and even Oregon due to a similar lifestyle in the state. With an influx of new residents, housing prices and other living costs start to increase over time, and these popular destinations become hot spots for inflation. As a result, the study underscored that Americans are moving from expensive cities to lower-density, more affordable regions.”  

By contrast, the study reveals that Vermont, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina are the top four most inbound states of 2022.  Of the folks moving, the main motivators for inbound states were a desire to be closer to family (35%), a new job/company transfer (33%), and retirement (20%).   

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“Key factors like retirement, wanting to be closer to family and lifestyle changes influenced by the pandemic along with current housing prices drove moving patterns in 2022,” Michael A. Stoll, economist and professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, said. “The United Van Lines study encompasses data that Americans are now moving from bigger to smaller cities, mostly in the South, some in the West, but even an increase of migration to the Northeast, which has not been typical. We’re also seeing younger Millennials migrating to vibrant, metropolitan economies, like Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon.” 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Tudor Dixon recognized the reality of losing many college students after graduation, but the state is losing many other demographics as well.