The States That Everyone Is Moved to in 2022

COVID-19 made a lot of people realize that they really didn’t want to live in the place they were currently living. That’s led to a lot of people moving—more often just to a different city, but there’s also those who have picked up all their belongings and switched states. According to Pew Research Center, 22% of Americans moved during the pandemic. That is higher than the average 13 to 14% from years before COVID.

In 2022, that has meant an influx for certain states and an exodus from others. According to moveBuddha.com, “densely-populated urban areas lost twice as many residents in 2020 as in previous years.” That remained true throughout the pandemic. Here are the top 10 states that Americans have moved to this year:

Hawaii
Alaska
Montana
South Carolina
Maine
North Carolina
Florida
Tennessee
Wyoming
Vermont

And, there are also states people seem to be avidly avoiding.

“For outbound moves, densely populated urban states are the least popular destinations, with many more people looking to leave than relocate there,” moveBuddha’s report stated. “The top five least popular states are all in the 12 most densely populated U.S. states. Overall, city life has never seemed so unappealing.”

The states that were least popular with people moving this year are:

New Jersey
California
Illinois
New York
Connecticut
Utah
Maryland
Rhode Island
Louisiana
Virginia

The top five states listed above are also some of the most densely populated, and that tracks with the trend of people moving out of urban areas to more rural towns.

“New Jersey, California, and Illinois are losing the most residents compared to those moving in, and in addition to being densely populated, they face affordability challenges,” the report continues. “New Jersey residents pay the country’s highest property taxes, deal with exorbitant real estate and rent prices, and increasingly see corporate headquarters leave the state, taking jobs with them.”

So, if you’ve been thinking about moving states, you’ll definitely want to check out the full report, to get some insight on where people are going and why.