On the Move Atlas Reveals 2016 National Household Goods Relocations Trends By Atlas Van Lines Public Relations
W
e are a Nation on the move, but—according to one company—not quite as much as last year. Atlas Van Lines recently released its annual National Migration Patterns study which shows household good movements for 2016 were down compared to 2015. Eleven US states, along with the nation’s capital, experienced a shift in migration status for the year. The study found 15 states registered as outbound and 9 as inbound, in addition to Washington, DC. In addition, 26 states registered as balanced meaning that moves in and out of the states were roughly equal. The company has conducted the study since 1993 to track the nation’s interstate moving patterns year to year as reflected in moves handled by Atlas. This year’s study was based on 75,427 interstate and cross-border household goods relocations from January 1, 2016 through December 15, 2016. THE INS AND OUTS
The 10 states with the highest percentage of inbound moves and outbound moves in order are: Inbound
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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Idaho (63 percent) Oregon (62 percent) North Carolina (61 percent) Tennessee (60 percent) Alaska (59 percent) Washington (58 percent) Michigan (57.2 percent) Washington DC (57.1 percent)
| Defense Transportation Journal | FEBRUARY 2017
9. Florida (56 percent) 10. New Hampshire (55.1 percent) Outbound
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Wyoming (63 percent) Nebraska (61 percent) Illinois (60 percent) Delaware (59.5 percent) Louisiana (59 percent) Connecticut (58.9 percent) New York (58.7 percent) West Virginia (58.6 percent) Indiana (58 percent) South Dakota (57.6 percent)
This is the first year Idaho has been the study’s inbound leader. However, Wyoming also topped the outbound list in 2012. Former inbound states Alabama, Maine, North Dakota, Rhode
We are a Nation on the move, but— according to one company—not quite as much as last year. Atlas Van Lines recently released its annual National Migration Patterns study which shows household good movements for 2016 were down compared to 2015. Island and Texas became balanced in 2016. After spending 2015 as balanced states, Michigan, New Hampshire and Washington, DC became inbound while Kansas shifted to outbound. In addition, Minnesota, New Jersey and Wisconsin changed from outbound to balanced in 2016.
In 2016, the total number of interstate and interprovincial moves reached 75,427, down from 77,705 in 2015. For the fifth consecutive year, the states with the highest number of total moves were California (14,995), Texas (11,973) and Florida (10,231). “The moving industry as a whole has contracted annually over the last five years, but we have been fortunate to see a consistent increase in moves during that time until this year,” said Jack Griffin, CEO and Vice Chairman of Atlas World Group. “We are cautiously optimistic that we will see an uptick in 2017 for all types of moves, but we are aware of the economic headwinds that lie ahead of us.” OTHER TRENDS Northeast Region
The Northeastern states saw four major changes from 2015 to 2016, with New Hampshire shifting from balanced to inbound and New Jersey from outbound to balanced. After spending 2015 as inbound, Rhode Island and Maine both became balanced in 2016. New Hampshire was the only inbound state in the region this year. New York has been outbound for more than 14 years. South Region
The Southern region experienced three changes. Alabama shifted from inbound to balanced, and Texas shifted from inbound to balanced. Before this year, Texas had registered as inbound for more than a decade. Washington, DC changed from balanced to inbound.
