As 2025 comes to a close, United Van Lines released its company’s 49th Annual National Movers Study, which found Oregon as the stated with the highest percentage of inbound migration (65%), moving up from eighth place on the 2024 inbound ranking.
According to the new study, Oregon was also a leading inbound destination for job-seeking migrants (36%) with opportunities in growing tech and healthcare fields. The Eugene-Springfield metro area as the top inbound metro statistical area with 85% inbound moves.
Joining Oregon among the top states for inbound migration were West Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware, and Minnesota.
At the other end of the spectrum, New Jersey led the states with a 62% outbound migration, which the study attributed to an exodus of retirees that outnumbered the arrival of younger professionals and families seeking job opportunities – 21% of inbound moves to New Jersey were movers aged 18-34 who saw the market as a “launch state” for starting careers.
Joining New Jersey among the states with significant outbound migration were New York, California, North Dakota, and Colorado.
The study also found the main motivation for interstate relocation was wanting to be closer to family (29%), followed by new job/company transfer (26%).
“The data reveals Americans are seeking a different pace of life, and destinations like Oregon, the Carolinas and the south are delivering it,” Eily Cummings, vice president of corporate communications at United Van Lines said. “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.”
The study tracked migration within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, DC. Although Vermont experienced the highest percentage of inbound moves overall, United Van Lines moved fewer than 250 families in and out of the state – the data rankings in the 2025 study only reflect states with 250 moves or more.
