A moving report highlighted Idaho as the U.S. state with the most inbound moves, as people move out of states like California, Illinois and New York.
According to North American Moving Services, 70% of all moves in Idaho in 2020 were of inbound movers, while the other 30% were of Idahoans moving out of state.
In their methodology, the moving company states that they reviewed data of household moves in and out of states. However, it is not clear how they collected the data or from where the data came from. The data may be internally collected figures or outsourced by a third party.
The report also does not include any data on how many household moves there were in total, so it's unknown how many people were part of the 70% of inbound moves to Idaho in 2020.
The moving company's migration map goes back to 2011 and it wasn't until 2015 that Idaho made the top five inbound states in the U.S., when 67% of household moves were bound for Idaho. Since its first top ten appearance, Idaho has consistently had about two-thirds of all moves be inbound.
For top inbound states, Idaho was followed by Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina.
California has been the top Western state for outbound moves since 2013, with 65% of household moves leaving the Golden State in 2020.
While California was the top Western state for outbound moves, it wasn't the most in the country. Illinois had the highest percentage with 69%, with New York coming second, followed by California, New Jersey and Maryland.
The report suggests that more people are moving to the Gem State because "it's relatively affordable." The definition of affordable must be relative since Idahoans are feeling the crunch of exploding home prices.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic grinding the world's economy to a halt in 2020, North American Moving Services' report claims "people continued to move at rates comparable to 2019."
Author's Note: If you enjoyed reading this thousandth article about Boise or the Gem State being ranked in some vague report, may I offer you this fine selection of various rankings:
- Idaho ranked Top Moving Destination of 2020, United Van Lines reports
- Boise real estate market ranked in top 5 for 2021
- Meridian ranked as the ninth-best place to live in America according to Money.com
- Boise ranked 2nd best in the nation for staycations
- Report: Boise ZIP code among the 'hottest' in the nation when it comes to home sales
- Boise ranked as 20th fastest growing city in the U.S.
- Hyde Park ranked among the 'friendliest neighborhoods' in the U.S.
- New report ranks Boise No. 1 for out of state homebuyers in 2020
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