According to the  2025 National Movers Study | United Van Lines®, the five states where the most moving vans were headed outbound, rather than inbound, were New Jersey, New York, California, North Dakota and Colorado. Seventeen states had over 50% outbound shipments.  Of the five states that had the greatest percentage of shipments leaving the state, one stands out.  As late as 2020, Colorado had always had fewer than 50 percent outbound shipments.  Since 2021, however, they have seen a steady rise in outbound shipments compared to inbound shipments.

According to United Van Lines, "U.S. movers are moving primarily for the opportunity to be closer to family (29%), company transfer/new job (26%) and retirement (14%)" and a "broad migration shift toward smaller cities and towns is redefining American relocation patterns."

According to a United Van Lines Press release, “United has tracked migration patterns annually on a state-by-state basis since 1977.  ... This study ranks the states based on the inbound and outbound percentages of total moves in each state. United classifies states as “high inbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves are going into a state, “high outbound” if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state or “balanced” if the difference between inbound and outbound is negligible.“  

The percentages we report refer to the share of the total moves that were outbound, as opposed to inbound. 

The data ranks the states from highest to lowest based on their outbound/moving out percentage. A state with the highest percentage of outbound shipments is ranked 1 and the state with lowest outward movement is ranked 48.  (Alaska and Hawaii are not included).