On the move: Washington had more inbound than outbound moves in 2021

Washington has been known to experience some pretty volatile growth. Or at least that’s what it may look like to those of us without the data. But United Van Lines just released its 2021 National Movers study and it turns out Washington is actually pretty balanced.

United Van Lines looked at their “exclusive data for customers’ state-to-state migration patterns” in order to determine these percentages. So let’s get into some details.

What do we mean by balanced? Well, Washington’s inbound and outbound moving “traffic” was pretty close to equal. For exact numbers, the percentage of inbound moves was 51.5% and the percentage of outbound moves was 48.5%. So despite the pandemic and constant reports about Seattle’s rising crime rate, we’re still attracting more people.

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via GIPHY

When you think about it, it completely makes sense why people would want to move here, we’re surrounded by beautiful nature, an abundance of tech jobs, great food, you name it. But why are people actually moving here? According to the data, 15.77% moved for retirement, 7.78% for health, 33.69% for family, 16.41% for lifestyle, 35.42% for work, and 4.32% for cost.

Washington follows an overall national trend in 2021 that saw 31.8% of Americans moving to be closer to family. A trend that has picked up due to a shift in values during the pandemic and also thanks to a rise in work from home opportunities. So even if things don’t always seem so bright in the Evergreen state, people are definitely interested in trying their luck at living here.

At least we’re doing better than New Jersey which had an outbound moving rate of 71%. Not only that but they’ve held the top spot for the past four years, ouch. Have a great week, Seattle!