BATON ROUGE (The Center Square) — Across the country, hundreds of thousands of companies have established remote work policies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. No longer bound to an office, millions of Americans are now free to relocate without having to consider proximity to their employer – and some clear trends are emerging.
A recent study from moving services company United Van Lines showed that in some parts of the country, far more people are leaving than are moving in.
According to the United Van Lines study, there were 2,542 moves to or from Louisiana in 2021. Of those moves, 57% were outbound – the eighth highest share among states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii..
Adjusting for total households in the state, as reported by U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, there were 80.5 outbound moves from Louisiana for every 100,000 households in the state in 2021.
All moving data is from the Annual 2021 United Van Lines National Movers Study. All data in this story is limited to moves conducted by United Van Lines. Due to rounding, shipment totals may not add up to 100%.
Rank | State | Outbound shipments as a share of all moves; 2021 (%) | Inbound shipments as a share of all moves; 2021 (%) | Total moves to or from state; 2021 |
1 | New Jersey | 71 | 30 | 5,348 |
2 | Illinois | 67 | 33 | 9,199 |
3 | New York | 63 | 37 | 9,050 |
4 | Connecticut | 60 | 40 | 2,887 |
5 | California | 59 | 41 | 26,711 |
6 | Michigan | 58 | 42 | 4,730 |
7 | Massachusetts | 58 | 42 | 5,183 |
8 | Louisiana | 57 | 44 | 2,542 |
9 | Ohio | 56 | 44 | 6,391 |
10 | Nebraska | 56 | 44 | 1,712 |
11 | Kansas | 56 | 45 | 2,741 |
12 | Minnesota | 54 | 46 | 3,317 |
13 | Pennsylvania | 53 | 47 | 6,424 |
14 | North Dakota | 53 | 48 | 600 |
15 | Mississippi | 52 | 48 | 1,411 |
16 | Wisconsin | 52 | 48 | 3,206 |
17 | Missouri | 52 | 48 | 4,394 |
18 | Maryland | 52 | 48 | 4,675 |
19 | Iowa | 51 | 50 | 1,551 |
20 | Nevada | 51 | 49 | 3,168 |
21 | Virginia | 51 | 49 | 11,635 |
22 | Indiana | 50 | 50 | 2,990 |
23 | Kentucky | 50 | 50 | 2,647 |
24 | Wyoming | 50 | 50 | 626 |
25 | Colorado | 50 | 50 | 9,337 |
26 | Oklahoma | 49 | 51 | 2,294 |
27 | Montana | 49 | 51 | 1,494 |
28 | Washington | 49 | 52 | 11,764 |
29 | Arkansas | 47 | 53 | 1,537 |
30 | Georgia | 47 | 54 | 8,861 |
31 | New Hampshire | 46 | 54 | 1,047 |
32 | Texas | 46 | 54 | 22,715 |
33 | Arizona | 46 | 54 | 7,540 |
34 | Utah | 45 | 55 | 2,516 |
35 | New Mexico | 44 | 56 | 2,276 |
36 | Maine | 42 | 58 | 1,376 |
37 | Delaware | 41 | 59 | 718 |
38 | Rhode Island | 41 | 59 | 892 |
39 | North Carolina | 41 | 59 | 10,318 |
40 | Oregon | 40 | 61 | 3,370 |
41 | Idaho | 40 | 60 | 1,623 |
42 | West Virginia | 38 | 63 | 451 |
43 | Alabama | 38 | 62 | 2,726 |
44 | Tennessee | 38 | 62 | 6,004 |
45 | Florida | 38 | 62 | 21,179 |
46 | South Carolina | 37 | 63 | 5,508 |
47 | South Dakota | 31 | 69 | 446 |
48 | Vermont | 26 | 74 | 413 |