Where did Americans move in 2019?
Americans are heading South for warmer weather and friendlier taxes
Americans continue to move from big cities, headed for states where the climate's warm and the taxes are friendly.
North American Moving Services released the latest version of its migration map, tracking where Americans have moved to and from in the past decade.
In 2019, a majority of people fled big-city states: 70 percent migrated out of Illinois, 65 percent out of California and 64 percent out of New Jersey.
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The top five states Americans moved into last year include Idaho, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina — all of which were states that made 2018’s top five.
Northeastern states continue to see the highest numbers of outbound migration for reasons such as high taxes, inclement weather and job opportunity.
Meanwhile, United Van Lines National Movers Study, which tracks annual migration patterns on a state-by-state basis, identified New Jersey as the state with the highest percentage of outbound migrations last year at a rate of 68.5 percent.
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The highest percentage of residents that left the state were wealthy, with nearly half of all outbound migrations occurring at income levels of $150,000 or more.
The two studies had a different ranking of states, but the macro trends were similar. People were leaving colder climates with higher taxes for more warmer environments with less of a tax burden.
Southern states have only ranked within the top eight for inbound migration throughout the decade, according to the North American Moving Services analysis. South Carolina and Tennessee continue to top the ranks because of its opposition with the Northeast: friendly taxes, warm weather and job growth.
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Midwestern states vary with high outbound numbers in Illinois and a spike inbound to Colorado.
Western states also remain a mixed bag. California continues to see high outbound migration while Idaho came in No. 1 for the most inbound migration in 2019, 2016 and 2015.