State of Moving in 2021: Moving Trends and the Lasting Effects of COVID-19

In many ways, 2021 was just as turbulent a year as 2020. Between supply chain breakdowns,¹ a volatile political climate, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ripples could be felt across virtually every American city, household, and industry. And the moving industry was no exception.

So, what percentage of Americans moved in 2021? According to the United States Census Bureau, a total of 27.1 million Americans moved in 2021, so about 8.4% percent.² This means that 2021 saw the lowest percentage of movers in decades.

We wanted to learn more about these movers, so we conducted a survey of 1,000 people who moved in 2021. Roughly 20% of our respondents moved to another state, an increase of 6 percentage points over 2020. We also found that moving customers experienced shortages during 62% of moves.

And while people’s reasons for moving varied, many moving customers cited political, ecological, and economic concerns among their motivations.

Keep reading and we’ll get into more details about where people moved in 2021, why they moved, and what moving trends in 2022 may look like.

• Top states where people moved to and from
• How far did people move?
• Why were people moving?
• Other interesting findings and potential 2022 moving trend

While there were some slight changes in the ranking positions, the states people moved to and away from the most were largely consistent with last year’s trends.

As you can see, people moved away from California, New York, and Texas in droves, just like last year. Plenty of people migrated into those three states as well, though. In fact, almost all of the states people moved away from the most were also popular destinations for other movers.

This means that while these states saw massive exoduses, they also got huge influxes of new residents.

Though there were statistically more interstate moves in 2021 than 2020, most people who moved this year didn’t actually move too far from home. Nearly half of all 2021 moves were cross-town moves, and roughly 78% of movers stayed within the same state.

• 43% of respondents moved wIthin the same city.
• 35% of respondents who moved to a new city stayed in the same state.
• 20% of respondents moved to a different state.
• 2% of respondents moved to a different country.

Additionally, 75% of respondents moved less than 1,000 miles away from their old homes, so many people who moved to a different state only moved a few states over, not across the country.

People’s primary motivations for moving this year were the same as most other years:

• 34% moved for family reasons (marriage, nearness to relatives, etc.).
• 20% moved for lifestyle preferences.
• 26% moved for career reasons.
• 20% moved for economic reasons.

However, people’s secondary reasons for moving speak a little more directly to how people were feeling in 2021:

• 39% cited political reasons.
• 37% cited lower taxes.
• 38% cited climate change.
• 45% cited lower living costs.
• 43% cited better culture.
• 32% cited better weather.

In addition to the survey data we gathered about people’s moving destinations and their motivations, we also found these interesting data points:

• 63% of respondents said if the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus worsens, they will consider a move in 2022.
• 62% of respondents experienced shortages using moving trucks and professional moving services during their move.
• 63% of respondents said their move was unexpected.
•  73% of respondents remodeled their home this year.
• 31% of respondents bought a home.
• 80% of respondents said they used professional moving services.

Using proprietary data from our partners, we examined which states people moved to and from in 2021. Using a third-party survey platform, we also conducted a survey of 1,000 Americans to discover why they moved this year. Our survey results have a margin of error of +/- 4% and a confidence level of 95%.

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1. Bloomberg, “Global Supply Chains Are a Mess. Here’s What It’s Going to Take to Fix It.” November 12, 2021. Accessed December 7, 2021.
2. US Census Bureau, “Census Bureau Releases 2021 CPS ASEC Geographic Mobility Data,” November 17, 2021. Accessed January 25, 2022.