SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — A national moving company that releases data on where people are entering and exiting annually has put out its 2024 study.
READ MORE: Inbound! Survey ranks Wilmington as top city for people to relocate
It rates Wilmington, North Carolina, among the top metropolitan statistical area people are moving to, according to United Van Lines. The company has traced migration patterns on a state-by-state basis since 1972 and utilized data from its parent company, UniGroup, handling household moves in 48 states and D.C.
Wilmington MSA consists of the tri-county region (New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties) and has come in the top 10 for many years now, but climbed to the number-one slot in 2022 as well. The 2024 study indicates that 83% of people the company tracked moved to the Wilmington MSA, with 17% leaving in 2024.
Only two other North Carolina cities came in the top 25, including Greenville (74% inbound and 26% outbound) and Greensboro-Winston-Salem area (65% inbound and 35% outbound).
Located 77 miles south of Wilmington, the area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tracked number three (80% inbound and 20% outbound).
Overall, North Carolina was the number five state people moved to, according to the survey, with South Carolina topping out at number three.
The company asks surveyors if they are moving due to improved cost of living, to be closer to family, for retirement, as a company transfer or for a new job, or for a lifestyle change. North Carolina came in number seven for people to move for retirement.
Neighboring South Carolina came in third for retirement, fifth for lifestyle change and sixth for improved cost of living.
West Virginia jumped nine spots since 2023 and came in as the number one state people flocked to, due to its affordable housing, outdoor activities, and the cost of living being lower than the national average.
For the seventh year in a row, New Jersey has remained the most highly exited state, with most movers leaving due to retirement.
“As housing costs continue to rise, Americans are moving to lower density, more affordable regions between expensive, economic-driving states,” an economist and professor in the department of public policy at the UCLA, Michael Stroll, noted in the release.
See United Van Lines full report here.
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