The pandemic may be in the rear-view mirror, but the lifestyle of remote work and more time outdoors is not going anywhere.

According to a study from moveBuddah, the first half of 2022 shows that "while fewer people are moving, the patterns that emerged early in the pandemic reshuffle remain."

Places like Montana and Wyoming are proving to be popular destinations in the mountain west, an enticing reality that explains the high numbers of California residents making the Rocky Mountains their new home.

Movers are choosing to embrace the small city lifestyle with lower costs and more wide open space.

Post-pandemic "more remote workers and retirees are choosing their next destination based on lifestyle, taxes, and cost of living, not proximity to a subway" the study said.

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Most popular states as of mid-year 2022 

Rank2022In-to-out ratio
1Hawaii2.41
2Alaska2.32
3Montana2.14
4South Carolina1.99
5Maine1.89
6North Carolina1.86
7Florida1.84
8Tennessee1.80
9Wyoming1.74
10Vermont1.68

 

The top reasons for the influx of newcomers, according to a study done by United Van Lines, is job transfer, 32.5%, and moving to be closer to family, 31.8%.

Least popular states as of mid-year 2022

Rank2022In-to-out ratio
1New Jersey0.50
2California0.50
3Illinois0.61
4New York0.65
5Connecticut0.69
6Utah0.70
7Maryland0.71
8Rhode Island0.71
9Louisiana0.75
10Virginia0.79

 

Which city is currently growing the fastest?

Ocala, Florida--a 60,000 person city best known for the glass-bottomed boats in nearby Silver Springs State Park showing off local manatees, alligators and fish beneath the swampy water with 524 inbound moves for every 100 outbound!

Which city is still seeing the biggest exodus?

Bronx, New York--with a in-to-out ration of .35. "With four of the ten least popular cities’ real estate prices over $1 million, it’s easy to see cost of living as a primary factor driving outbound moves," said the moveBuddah study analysis.

 

Methodology

"We use moveBuddha proprietary data collected from 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Jan 1 through July 5th) to analyze moves trends. The data comes directly from the moveBuddha Moving Cost Calculator.

In-to-out ratio: We rely primarily on the in-to-out ratio equation in our analysis to see which cities are earning more residents by moves in than losing them via moves out: [Number of queries for moves in] ÷ [Number of queries for moves out] = [in-to-out ratio].

Zillow Home Value data is used for understanding the home value and home value percentage increase over time."

 

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