Loads of Americans are moving out of these 18 states

BOB BRYAN
Updated
What Are the Most Expensive Cities for Expats?
What Are the Most Expensive Cities for Expats?

People move for many different reasons. For instance, some get new jobs, others retire, and some just want to be closer to their families.

While many people in the US move within the same state — the Census Bureau estimated in 2011 that 40% of moves are within 50 miles — there are patterns for those who did make interstate moves, according to Atlas Van Lines, a national moving company.

Atlas looked at 77,705 interstate moves and found that 18 states had more people moving out than in, whereas 12 had the reverse happen. We rounded up the 18 that had outflows for 2015. Most are in the upper-Midwest, which Atlas said has been on an outbound trend for a while.

"The Midwestern states experienced a major shift to outbound moves, with Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota going from balanced to outbound in 2015," said the report. "Similar to 2013 and 2014, North Dakota was the only state in the region to register as inbound."

See the states that topped the list, in order from lowest to higher percentage outbound migration:

18. Louisiana
Total people moving in: 891
Total people moving out: 1121
Net Flow: -230
Percent of Moves Outbound: 55.7%

17. West Virginia
Total people moving in: 222
Total people moving out: 280
Net Flow: -58
Percent of Moves Outbound: 55.8%

16. Nebraska
Total people moving in: 418
Total people moving out: 528
Net Flow: -110
Percent of Moves Outbound: 55.8%

15. Connecticut
Total people moving in: 968
Total people moving out: 1236
Net Flow: -288
Percent of Moves Outbound: 56.1%

14. Delaware
Total people moving in: 274
Total people moving out: 355
Net Flow: -81
Percent of Moves Outbound: 56.4%

13. Vermont
Total people moving in: 131
Total people moving out: 175
Net Flow: -44
Percent of Moves Outbound: 57.2%

12. Iowa
Total people moving in: 579
Total people moving out: 778
Net Flow: -199
Percent of Moves Outbound: 57.3%

11. New Jersey
Total people moving in: 1548
Total people moving out: 2164
Net Flow: -616
Percent of Moves Outbound: 58.3%

10. Ohio
Total people moving in: 1859
Total people moving out: 2713
Net Flow: -854
Percent of Moves Outbound: 58.3%

9. Minnesota
Total people moving in: 1175
Total people moving out: 1591
Net Flow: -416
Percent of Moves Outbound: 57.5%

8. Pennsylvania
Total people moving in: 2256
Total people moving out: 3196
Net Flow: -940
Percent of Moves Outbound: 58.6%

7. Wisconsin
Total people moving in: 801
Total people moving out: 1138
Net Flow: -337
Percent of Moves Outbound: 58.6%

6. Indiana
Total people moving in: 1240
Total people moving out: 1810
Net Flow: -570
Percent of Moves Outbound: 59.3%

5. Wyoming
Total people moving in: 170
Total people moving out: 250
Net Flow: -80
Percent of Moves Outbound: 60.0%

4. South Dakota
Total people moving in: 152
Total people moving out: 229
Net Flow: -77
Percent of Moves Outbound: 60.0%

3. Illinois
Total people moving in: 2193
Total people moving out: 3535
Net Flow: -1342
Percent of Moves Outbound: 61.7%

2. New York
Total people moving in: 2543
Total people moving out: 4107
Net Flow: -1564
Percent of Moves Outbound: 61.8%

1. Hawaii
Total people moving in: 65
Total people moving out: 106
Net Flow: -41
Percent of Moves Outbound: 62.0%

RELATED: Now see the best states to move to for retirement:

Advertisement