Top States People Are Moving To In 2026 And How Your Car Gets There

The top states people are moving to have shifted, and the map most movers carry in their heads no longer matches the data. Americans still head south and west, but the Carolinas now pull harder than Florida, the Midwest quietly turned positive, and Oregon climbed from eighth to first in inbound moves. If you plan to join them, the numbers below tell you where the crowd went and what it takes to get your vehicle there with you.

What You Should Know Before You Start

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates, United Van Lines 2025 National Movers Study

Top States People Are Moving To In 2026 And What The Data Shows

Two national datasets shape every serious conversation about where Americans relocate. The Census Bureau tracks net domestic migration for all 50 states. Moving companies track the share of their shipments heading into a state versus out of it. Together they explain both the raw scale of a move and the direction of the trend.

The 2025 U.S. Census Bureau figures, covering July 2024 through July 2025, produced a genuine surprise. States that posted positive net domestic migration increased from 27 to 31, and the leaderboard reordered itself.

• North Carolina took first place with a net gain of 84,064 residents from other states.
• Texas followed at 67,299, with South Carolina close behind at 66,622.
• Tennessee rounded out the top four at 42,389.
• Florida gained 22,517 and slipped to eighth, behind Alabama.

Counting total net migration rather than domestic flows alone, the five states with the largest gains were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, according to National Association of Realtors analysis.

Moving company data tells a parallel story about smaller states and smaller cities. Oregon topped the United Van Lines 2025 National Movers Study with 64.5% of tracked household moves coming in rather than going out, its first time at number one. West Virginia placed second at 62.1% and South Carolina third at 60.8%.

North Carolina Now Leads The Nation In Net Domestic Migration

North Carolina gained over 84,000 residents from other states in a single year, the largest such gain among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management put that figure roughly 20,000 ahead of Texas and neighboring South Carolina.

The broader growth picture looks just as strong. North Carolina added 146,000 people overall between July 2024 and July 2025, a 1.3% increase and the third-fastest rate in the country. Its population reached 11.2 million.

What draws people there covers more ground than weather alone.

• The Raleigh and Charlotte corridors keep adding jobs in tech, finance, and logistics.
• Housing costs sit far below what movers leave behind in California, New York and New Jersey.
• Coastal and mountain regions give retirees and remote workers two very different lifestyles inside one state.
• Wilmington recorded an 83% inbound move rate, second highest of any metro area in the 2025 movers study.

If you plan a move there, our North Carolina car shipping page covers routes, timing, and what the trip usually runs.

South Carolina Draws More People Per Resident Than Any State

South Carolina grew 1.5% in the year ending July 2025, the fastest percentage growth of any state, adding 79,958 people and reaching roughly 5.57 million residents. Its 66,622 net domestic migrants landed in a state a fifth of the size of Texas, which explains the per capita strength.

Myrtle Beach and the coastal counties carry much of that demand. Retirees arrive for the climate and the lower cost of living. Younger households follow the manufacturing and logistics jobs spreading out from Greenville and Charleston. The state also ran a 60.8% inbound move rate, the third-highest in the country.

Texas And Florida Still Gain, But The Pace Of Migration Slowed

Texas attracted 67,300 net arrivals from other states in 2025, second in the nation. That number represents a real slowdown from the pandemic years, when the state routinely posted far larger gains. Texas still grew 1.2% overall and led the country in residential building permits, which keeps housing supply moving.

Florida tells the sharper story. Its net domestic migration fell to 22,517, down from 183,646 in 2023 and 310,892 in 2022. Population growth in Florida held up at nearly 197,000 people, but international migration, not domestic arrivals, drove most of it. Rising home prices and property insurance costs explain much of the change.

Neither state has reversed. Since 2020, Florida has added 890,000 residents through state-to-state migration, and Texas added 813,000. These are totals no other state comes close to matching. The 2025 figures mark a narrowing pipeline, not a turn in the other direction.

• Texas and Florida both recorded near-equal inbound and outbound household moves in 2025 for the first time in over a decade.
• Alabama gained 23,358 net domestic migrants, finishing ahead of Florida.
• Nevada and Arizona stayed on the positive side of the ledger, continuing a Sun Belt pattern that has held since 2020.

Planning a move to the Lone Star State? Our Texas car shipping page breaks down the major lanes.

Oregon, West Virginia, And The Inbound States Americans Chose

Oregon jumped from eighth to first in the 2025 movers study, with 1,188 of 1,842 tracked moves heading into the state. Job opportunities drove most of it. Roughly 36% of inbound movers cited a new job or a company transfer, with tech and health care roles concentrated in the Willamette Valley. The Eugene and Springfield metro area recorded an 85% inbound rate, the highest in the country.

West Virginia came second at 62.1%, helped by the most affordable housing in America. Delaware, Minnesota, Idaho, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama and Nevada completed the top ten.

Idaho keeps earning its place on these lists. It posted the second-fastest population growth in the nation at 1.4% and holds the highest per capita rate of new housing permits of any state, which lets the inflow continue where supply-constrained markets choke it off. Outdoor recreation and forests draw movers who want space without coastal pricing.

Smaller states move differently in this data. South Dakota carries the lowest unemployment rate in America at 2.1%, and states with no state income tax keep pulling high-income earners and retirees who calculate the difference across a full year.

How Ohio And The Midwest Turned Net Migration Around In 2025

The quietest change in the 2025 data came from a region nobody expected. Ohio gained nearly 12,000 residents through net domestic migration, a swing from a loss of 32,482 in 2021. Michigan moved from a 28,290-person loss to a 1,796-person gain. Minnesota flipped from a 204-person loss to roughly 8,300 gained, the largest single-year reversal of any state.

Lower cost of living explains most of it. As Sun Belt magnets priced themselves out of reach and mortgage rates discouraged homeowners from selling, movers looked inland. Minnesota posted the largest percentage growth in domestic migration, followed by Ohio, Washington and Oregon. Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin all recorded positive flows for the same reason. The Midwest became the affordable option in a market where affordability decided everything.

That matters for how you read the whole map. The migration story of 2026 runs along a cost gradient more than a regional one.

Family, Job Opportunities And Lower Taxes Drive Domestic Migration

When United Van Lines asked movers why they packed up in 2025, accessibility to family came first at 29%. A company transfer or a new job followed at 26%, retirement at 14%, and a lifestyle change at 10%. Money matters, but proximity to people matters more.

Cost pressure still shapes the destinations. High cost of living pushes households toward more affordable housing markets, and states with no state income tax attract high-income earners and retirees who can move that income anywhere. Many residents relocating out of the Northeast and the West Coast land in southern and western states for exactly that reason.

Demographics reinforce the pattern. Every age group in the South grew faster than in any other region between 2020 and 2025, including residents under 18 years, according to Census Bureau data released in June 2026. Maine carries the highest median age in the country at 44.9 years, while Utah carries the lowest at 32.6 years, a product of higher birth rates. Vermont lost population outright in 2025, the only New England state to do so.

Climate and lifestyle finish the picture. Access to outdoor recreation, a slower pace, and warmer winters keep showing up in mover surveys alongside the financial math.

What Moving To One Of These States Means For Shipping Your Car

A long-distance move usually involves more vehicles than drivers. Families relocating from the Northeast to the Carolinas run into that math fast. Driving one car and shipping the other beats a two-vehicle caravan across 800 miles of interstate.

Distance sets the rate. Shorter runs under 500 miles carry the highest per-mile cost, while trips over 2,500 miles drop well under a dollar per mile. Understanding how the car shipping process works before you call for a quote saves time and prevents surprises.

Match the service to the situation.

Certain movers carry extra considerations. Military vehicle shipping follows PCS timelines that rarely bend. Snowbird car shipping peaks twice a year, northbound in April and May and southbound between mid October and late November. Families sending a vehicle to campus can start with our guide to college student car shipping.

Why People Moving Across State Lines Keep Choosing ShipYourCarNow

I have spent more than 17 years in auto transport, and the same pattern repeats every relocation season. People compare quotes, pick the lowest number, then discover the company disappeared after collecting a deposit. We built our process to remove that risk.

Every carrier that moves a vehicle for us clears a vetting process covering overall performance, individual driver performance, USDOT compliance, and insurance verification. Each one carries a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability coverage and $100,000 in cargo coverage.

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