New Report Shows CT A Top State For Those Fleeing Coronavirus

CONNECTICUT — You know all those people who are putting their houses on the market, pulling up stakes, and "fleeing" the coronavirus? Turns out they're coming here.

Or a sizable number of them, anyway. United Van Lines — who know a thing or two about who's moving and to where — just released a report that named Connecticut the third most popular state for COVID refugees.

Not only is the coronavirus inspiring homeowners to relocate, it's motivating them to get out of Dodge fast. The data shows that movers influenced by COVID-19 were more likely to expedite their exit (64 percent) than movers not influenced by the pandemic (9.6 percent).

"As the nation's largest mover of household goods, United Van Lines' customer migration data distinctively signals broader national moving trends," said United Van Lines CEO Marc Rogers. "Our data provides valuable insights into what tens of thousands of Americans are experiencing and considering when moving in 2020."

Vermont and North Dakota were the only states more popular for those fleeing the virus, according to the moving company. Here's their top ten list of COVID sanctuary states:

1. Vermont
2. North Dakota
3. Connecticut
4. Montana
5. Michigan
6. Arkansas
7. Oregon
8. Massachusetts
9. Ohio
10. Utah

Where are your new neighbors coming from? Pretty much from all over the map, according to the moving giant's new report. From March to August 2020, the top outbound states, defined by the highest percentages of moves where COVID was a contributing factor in leaving the state, were the following:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. New York
3. Nevada
4. Oregon
5. Delaware
6. California
7. Minnesota
8. Massachusetts
9. Florida
10. Washington

"Our schools being safely open is an advantage of our state," crowed Gov. Ned Lamont at a news conference Tuesday. "I always said that we would not only turn the state around, but that we would turn the moving vans around—and we're doing just that. Connecticut has become the 3rd most inbound state in the country. No place like it!"

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Five years ago the Nutmeg State topped the lists of states people were most likely to leave, according to Lamont.

Schools and safety are playing a big part in COVID refugees' decision to move to Connecticut, but they are not the only factors. According to the report, the top four most common factors associated with the virus were:

1. Concerns for personal and family health and well-being;
2. Desires to be closer to family;
3. Changes in employment status or work arrangement (including the ability to work remotely);
4. Desires for lifestyle change or improvement of quality of life.

Raquel Martin, a realtor with Keller Williams in Ridgefield, told Patch she was very nearly overwhelmed by the influx of homebuyers coming over the state line from the south in May. Most of them hailed from New York City, and many were so anxious to move they were going into contract at the open house. She said that COVID may have fanned the flame, but the spark had been smoldering for a while.

"They wanted more space," Martin said. "Living space, because a lot of them were coming from apartments, and they wanted a yard for their kids, they were tired of being cooped up."

Martin and her Connecticut realtor colleagues may be excused for their whiplash. The data from United Van Lines indicates that interstate move requests were 26-31 percent lower in the spring of 2020 compared to the 2019 data. Outbound move requests from New York were down 1 percent from the national average in April, but spiked to 55 percent above the average just one month later. That panic was sustained, too: By the end of August, outbound move requests from New York were still 52 percent higher than the national average.

UniGroup, parent company of United Van Lines, continuously fields a post-move survey with customers within five days following their move. The findings in their report were drawn from data collected among more than 6,000 United Van Lines and Mayflower customers who moved between Mar. 1 – Aug. 31, 2020.