2016 Allied Van Lines State Magnet Report
For the first time in a dozen years, Texas is not claiming the top spot in the annual Allied Van Lines Magnet States Report. Instead, Florida and Arizona beat the Longhorn State with higher net relocation gains. The annual report uses internal data to track U.S. and cross-border migration patterns with Canada, and found that Florida’s net relocation gain of 1,316 propelled it to the top of the 2016 list from the second spot last year. This net gain is calculated by the difference between inbound moves and outbound moves performed by Allied Van Lines, one of the world’s largest moving companies. “Texas has been a powerhouse magnet state for more than a decade, but traditional retirement states of Florida and Arizona are always strong contenders for the list,” said Lesli Bertoli, general manager and vice president of Allied Van Lines. “For the first time in recent history, both Florida and Arizona were able to unseat Texas from its top-spot position.”
Arizona was the second most magnetic state with 1,137 net inbound moves in 2016, and Texas came in third with 891 net inbound moves.Rounding out the top five magnet states in 2016 are North Carolina (9 th in 2015) and Utah (8 th in 2015). Biggest Movers in 2016 California continues to dominate as the Most Mobile State, with more than 10,590 moves conducted by Allied Van Lines that featured California as its departure or destination state.
Increasing Attraction
Some of the biggest movers on the list are Virginia (up 16 spots from the least magnetic state in 2015 to the 17 th least magnetic), Iowa (up 15 spots from number 42 to 27) and Connecticut (up 10 spots from 37 th place to 26 th place). Other states with big changes on the list included Delaware, which tumbled to 9 th least magnetic state, dropping 17 spots, and Colorado, which went from 6 th most magnetic in 2015 to 21 st in 2016.
Outbound States
Illinois returns to the bottom of the list after a brief respite in 2015. Allied’s 2016 Magnet States data shows Illinois as the state with the greatest net outbound moves, with 1,284 moves out of state. California takes its place as the 2 nd most outbound state (1,060 outbound moves), followed by Pennsylvania (716 net outbound moves) and New York (714 net outbound moves) in a near-tie. Rounding out the bottom 5 is New Jersey (542 net outbound moves).
Canadians on the Move
Similar to 2015, more Americans crossed the border in a move to British Columbia than left, making it the most attractive province for U.S. relocation. Ontario chalked up the largest net loss to cross- border moves.