Maine among top states for inbound migration in 2017
Chart shows 10-year summary of Maine's migration trends, as compiled by Atlas Van Lines.
Maine was among the top inbound migration states in 2017, ranking sixth out of the 50 states in the latest migration data study released by Atlas Van Lines.
As one of the nation’s leading moving companies, Atlas tracks yearly interstate moves to define trends in nationwide migration.
This year’s findings classified Maine as an “inbound” state, shifting from its status as “balanced” in 2016. In 2017, 59.7% of Maine’s moves were into the state.
The 2017 Atlas Van Lines Migration Patterns study found that 11 U.S. states reflected a change in migration status over 2016 results. The study also found that 23 states were balanced — meaning that moves in and out of the states were roughly equal — while 17 registered as outbound and 10 as inbound, in addition to Washington, D.C.
Furthermore, the data showed a decrease in moves in 2017, with the total number of interstate and cross-border moves reaching 72,986, down from 75,427 in 2016. With the inclusion of data from Atlas Van Lines Canada, sister company of Atlas Van Lines, a total of 81,693 household moves occurred throughout North America in 2017.
Idaho is the inbound leader for the second year in a row, with 65.1% of its total moves in 2017 being inbound. By comparison, Maine ranked sixth with 59.7% of its total moves being inbound. Illinois had the highest percentage of outbound moves at 62.4%.
Top 10 inbound states:
- Idaho, 65.1%
- Washington, 62.5%
- Nevada, 62.4%
- Tennessee, 60.6%
- Alaska, 60.4%
- Maine, 59.7%
- North Carolina, 59.3%
- Oregon, 57.5%
- Alabama, 57.0%
- Rhode Island, 55.7%.
Top 10 outbound states:
- Illinois, 62.4%
- West Virginia, 60.4%
- Nebraska, 60.3%
- South Dakota, 59.9%
- Hawaii, 59.8%
- Indiana, 59.7%
- Delaware, 59.6%
- New York, 59.2%
- Louisiana, 57.9%
- Kansas, 57.7%.
Former inbound states New Hampshire, Michigan and Florida became balanced in 2017, ending Florida’s former three-year streak of classifying as inbound. After spending 2016 as balanced states, Maine, Rhode Island, Alabama and Nevada became inbound while New Jersey, Oklahoma and Hawaii shifted to outbound. Vermont changed from outbound to balanced in 2017.
“The tracking of relocation patterns across America, Canada and internationally share valuable insights on the nation as a whole, influencing business decisions across companies and industries,” Jack Griffin, chairman and CEO of Atlas World Group, said in a news release announcing the 2017 rankings. "While the findings of this year’s study underscore the drop in mobility we’ve seen across the moving industry, we will hope for growth in 2018 as the U.S. economy continues to rebound.”
Atlas Van Lines, a national moving company, is the largest subsidiary of Atlas World Group, a company based in Evansville, Ind., with nearly 700 employees throughout North America.
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