2011 Migration Patterns

Based on 80,289 Interstate and Cross-Border Household Goods Relocations from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.
(Click on individual state/province for 10-year historical data.)
View PDF Version (795 KB)
View the Moving Migration Patterns Infographic

2011 Migration Patterns
2011 Migration Key


Where is America moving?

As it does every January, Atlas Van Lines reviews data on the origins and destinations of interstate moves during the last 12 months. The 2011 Migration Patterns study results provide a snapshot of relocation patterns, showing an overall increase in the number of moves over last year.

Southwestern and Mid-Atlantic coastal states were popular destinations in 2011. The Midwest continues to lose residents, but Michigan became a balanced state after six consecutive years of steady outbound moves. For the sixth year in a row, Washington, D.C. had the highest percentage of inbound moves, while Ohio came out the clear leader in the highest percentage of outbound moves.

Other migration trends:


Northern States

With the exception of New Hampshire, which went from an inbound to a balanced state, and Massachusetts, Connecticut and West Virginia, which transformed from balanced to outbound states, the Northern States saw relatively few changes in moving patterns from 2010 to 2011.

Southern States

The Southeast remains balanced with the exception of Louisiana, which switched from a balanced state to an outbound one in 2011. Southwest states Texas and New Mexico continue to be inbound states, as well as Mid-Atlantic states Virginia and North Carolina. After becoming a newly inbound state in 2010, Kentucky is now balanced.

Midwestern States

Again seeing the majority of its states with more outbound than inbound moves, the Midwest region only has three balanced states – Iowa, South Dakota and Michigan. Despite uncertain economic conditions, Michigan became a balanced state following a six-year streak as an outbound state. Wisconsin, Nebraska and Kansas finished 2011 as outbound states – all of which were previously classified as balanced states for seven, nine and 10 years in a row, respectively.

Western States

The annual study shows that the majority of the Western states remain balanced with only two states changing status. Utah is now an outbound state and Wyoming is now balanced.

How is a state classified?

Each state/province has a threshold value, which is the total number of shipments multiplied by 0.55 (for example, in a state with 100 moves, at least 55 of them would have to be outgoing to classify the state as outbound). A state/province is considered:

  • Outbound when outbound shipments exceed the threshold.
  • Inbound when inbound shipments exceed the threshold.

All other states are classified as balanced. Shipments noted for Canada are cross-border-to the United States or from the United States (not inter-provincial).

Nova Scotia - 73 / 39 Nova Scotia - 73 / 39 Connecticut - 1216/ 946 Connecticut - 1216/ 946 Deleware - 334 / 252 Deleware - 334 / 252 Washington, D.C. - 265 / 591 Washington, D.C. - 265 / 591 Maryland -  1863 / 2552 Maryland -  1863 / 2552 Massachusetts - 1794 / 1365 Massachusetts - 1794 / 1365 New Hampshire - 267 / 267 New Hampshire - 267 / 267 New Jersey - 1987 / 1435 New Jersey - 1987 / 1435 Rhode Island - 277 / 419 Rhode Island - 277 / 419 Vermont - 146 / 140 Vermont - 146 / 140 British Columbia - 285 / 182 Alberta - 304 / 231 Saskatchewan - 31 / 19 Manitoba - 67 / 37 Ontario - 878 / 602 Quebec - 248 / 182 Newfoundland - 15 / 17 New Brunswick - 14 / 14 Maine - 333 / 355 Virginia - 3416 / 4295 West Virginia - 281 / 229 North Carolina - 2575 / 3975 South Carolina - 1893 / 1758 Pennsylvania - 2653 / 2190 New York - 3702 / 2679 Florida - 5269 / 5636 Georgia - 3702 / 3386 Alabama - 1109 / 1247 Mississippi - 552 / 510 Tennessee - 1485 / 2016 Kentucky - 1036 / 1030 Ohio - 2876 / 1890 Michigan - 1720 / 1644 Indiana - 1809 / 1221 Illinois - 3367 / 2442 Wisconsin - 971 / 710 Louisiana - 1165 / 920 Arkansas - 572 / 494 Missouri - 1511 / 1149 Iowa - 684 / 629 Minnesota - 1230 / 880 North Dakota - 164 / 210 South Dakota - 215 / 183 Nebraska - 522 / 401 Kansas - 1207 / 975 Oklahoma - 966 / 1008 Texas - 5663 / 7861 New Mexico - 632 / 851 Colorado - 2082 / 2403 Wyoming - 254 / 213 Montana - 217 / 204 Idaho - 454 / 399 Utah - 580 / 466 Arizona - 2206 / 2056 Nevada - 755 / 703 California - 6758 / 7803 Oregon - 663 / 786 Washington - 2604 / 2752 Yukon - 0 / 0 Alaska - 105 / 169 Hawaii - 151 / 112

TM & © 2012 AWGI LLC
800-638-9797
Atlas Van Lines, Inc. U.S. DOT No. 125550
1212 St. George Road, Evansville, IN 47711
Available on the App Store Available in Android Market