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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Oregon was the top state Americans moved to in 2025, according to a new study by federally licensed mover United Van Lines, while neighboring California continued to see more residents pack up and leave than newcomers arriving.
Why It Matters
Domestic migration—the movement of U.S. residents across state lines—has slowed down significantly from the pandemic, when the number of Americans relocating around the country surged due to the rise of remote work and a nationwide homebuying frenzy.
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At its peak in 2022, 14.2 per 1,000 people were relocating within the country, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). In 2024, the latest data available, this number had dropped to 2.8 per 1,000 people.
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But domestic migration trends that emerged during the pandemic have persisted, including Americans’ keenness to relocate to smaller, more affordable towns while ditching expensive urban centers.
"A broad migration shift toward smaller cities and towns is redefining American relocation patterns," the United Van Lines’ study found.
What To Know
The Beaver State topped United Van Lines’s list of the ten states most Americans moved to last year. Oregon saw the highest percentage of inbound migration last year, at 65 percent, while experiencing an outbound migration of 35.5 percent.
The reason why the state was so attractive to newcomers seems to be its growing tech and healthcare fields, with 36 percent of movers relocating to the Beaver State to find a job.
Neighboring Idaho was also among the states with the highest percentage of inbound migration in 2025, at 57.8 percent, compared to an outbound migration of 42.2 percent.
Also in the West, however, neighboring California was hemorrhaging residents. The Golden State had one of the lowest percentages of inbound migration in the country last year, at 57.8 percent. While newcomers continued arriving in the state, the total share of outbound migration was high, at 42.2 percent.
On the opposite end of the country, New York—another expensive state with a thriving job market—was not doing much better. The state had exactly the same percentages of inbound and outbound migration as California last year, respectively 42.2 percent and 57.8 percent.
But it was New Jersey which took the number one spot for states facing the highest exodus of residents last year, facing the highest share of outbound migration in the nation, at 62 percent.
These states, according to United Van Lines, are still attracting young professionals and young families, but are losing retirees due to affordability and lifestyle challenges.
These were the top ten states Americans moved to last year:
- Oregon
- West Virginia
- South Carolina
- Delaware
- Minnesota
- Idaho
- North Carolina
- Arkansas
- Alabama
- Nevada
And these were the top ten states Americans moved out of last year:
- New Jersey
- New York
- California
- North Dakota
- Colorado
- Mississippi
- Massachusetts
United Van Lines obtained these numbers on the basis of household moves handled by the UniGroup network, its parent company, within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. It then ranked states based on the inbound and outbound percentages of total moves in each state.
States were classified as "high inbound" if 55 percent or more of the moves were going into a state, or "high outbound" if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state. They were "balanced" if the difference between inbound and outbound was negligible.
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Metro-level data shows that cheaper, smaller towns are attracting the most residents. Top destination metros last year included Eugene-Springfield, Oregon (with a share of 85 percent of inbound migration), Wilmington, North Carolina (83 percent) and Dover, Delaware (79 percent).
The highest percentages of outbound migration, at the metro level, were reported by Hagerstown, Maryland (88 percent), Nassau-Suffolk, New York (78 percent), and Pueblo, Colorado (74 percent).
What People Are Saying
Michael A. Stoll, Economist and Professor in The Department of Public Policy at The University of California, Los Angeles, said in the United Van Lines report: "For most Americans, interstate relocation is no longer a linear calculation, it’s a complex decision balancing multiple competing factors.
"It is interesting to see that in general, population movement continues from North/Midwest regions to Southern states–and again top inbound locations dominated by smaller to medium size metro areas. This reflects a legacy of COVID-era preferences for lower-density living, combined with the reality that housing costs continue to drive people toward more affordable regions."
Eily Cummings, Vice President of Corporate Communications at United Van Lines said in the report: "The data reveals Americans are seeking a different pace of life, and destinations like Oregon, the Carolinas and the south are delivering it. While our total number of residential moves is similar to 2024, we’re seeing much greater complexity in why people move and increasingly divergent migration patterns across age groups."
What Happens Next
States with thriving job markets and more affordable housing markets will probably continue attracting a majority of Americans moving around the country this year, though domestic migration is unlikely to pick up to the levels observed during the pandemic.
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