According to one of the nation’s leading movers, the 2020 Atlas® Van Lines Migration Patterns Study found that 23 U.S. states registered as balanced, meaning that moves in and out of the states were roughly equal; 12 states registered as outbound; and 15 states, in addition to Washington, D.C., registered as inbound. The data also conveyed a decrease in moves from 2019 to 2020. The company has conducted this study since 1993 to track the nation’s interstate (between states), crossborder (U.S. to Canada only), and international (between countries) moving patterns annually as reflected in moves handled by Atlas®.

The 10 U.S. states with the highest percentage of outbound and inbound moves are listed in order below, with Idaho ranking as the study’s inbound leader for the fourth time since 2016. New York led the country in outbound moves in 2020, a designation it has held for two years in a row. This year, the state experienced its highest percentage of outbound moves since the study’s inception.

Former balanced state Kentucky gained an inbound status for the first time since 2010, while California earned an outbound status for the first time since 1995. Minnesota and New Jersey also saw the highest percentages of outbound moves since 2014 and 2009, respectively. The year’s total number of interstate and cross-border moves in North America totaled 64,858 in 2020, down from 66,308 in 2019.
            

Atlas® World Group International conducted 4,187 international household goods moves in 2020, down from 7,821 in 2019 due to COVID-19 restrictions around the globe.