New Jersey Tops List Of Most Moved-Out State, Third Year In A Row

NEW JERSEY — High property taxes. Cost of living. Crummy weather.

Whatever the reason may be, for the third consecutive year, New Jersey is the number one state in the nation that people have moved out of, according to the 2020 National Migration Study by United Van Lines. United Van Lines found that 70 percent of their clients in New Jersey requested moving services to leave the state, as opposed to Idaho, which had the highest percentage of inbound migration (70 percent).

United Van Lines ranked all the states in the U.S. that used their company for more than 250 moves in 2020. United Van Lines is the largest household goods mover in the country.

Their study also found that all the states hard hit by COVID, and with the nation's most restrictive shutdown orders, experienced the highest exodus of residents in 2020: New York (67 percent outbound moves), Illinois (67 percent), Connecticut (63 percent) and California (59 percent) were among the states experiencing the largest exoduses.

Meanwhile, South Carolina (64 percent), Oregon (63 percent), South Dakota (62 percent) and Arizona (62 percent) saw the greatest number of people moving there last year.

While the study did not give a reason why, New Jersey residents know they have an array of reasons to make the state undesirable to live in, from incredibly high property taxes, forced government shutdowns of private businesses and schools, cost of living or just simply the weather.

United Van Lines' finding match national trends that show people fleeing American cities like Los Angeles and New York that were devastated by COVID.

"As more people experience job and lifestyle changes amid the pandemic like remote working, we’re seeing they have more flexibility in where they can live," said Eily Cummings, director of corporate communications at United Van Lines. “For example, many choosing to move from urban to more rural areas.”

The top 10 states residents moved out of in 2020, according to the study:

1. New Jersey
2. New York
3. Illinois
4. Connecticut
5. California
6. Kansas
7. North Dakota
8. Massachusetts
9. Ohio
10. Maryland

The top inbound states (with 250 moves or more) of 2020 were:

1. Idaho
2. South Carolina
3. Oregon
4. South Dakota
5. Arizona
6. North Carolina
7. Tennessee
8. Alabama
9. Florida
10. Arkansas

Read their study here: https://www.unitedvanlines.com...