The recently released “2024 Migration Patterns Study” by Atlas Van Lines showed that Arkansas had the highest percentage of inbound moves of all the states in the nation in 2024. The company reported that 65 percent of the shipments recorded in Arkansas were inbound.
This year, the study included insight into the motivation behind people’s moves for the first time ever. A survey of more than 1,000 people in August revealed three reasons for moving: work, being closer to friends or family, and affordability.
Of the respondents, 32 percent moved for a new job, 25 percent moved to be closer to friends or family, 10 percent moved for affordability reasons, and 33 percent moved for other reasons, including weather, safety, relationship changes, education, retirement and health reasons.
Mandates to return to the office after working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic may drive many moves. Atlas noted that RTO mandates from Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart, CVS and Amazon coincided with top inbound states Arkansas, Rhode Island and Washington.
Affordability may also be a factor in Arkansas’ popularity as a destination, given the state is known for its low taxes and low cost of living. Realtor.com reported that the median listing price for a home in the central Arkansas metro is $285,000.
The site also noted that three of the top 10 inbound states — Tennessee, Washington and Alaska — do not have state income tax.
In addition to Arkansas, the top inbound states were Rhode Island, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Idaho, Tennessee, Maine, Connecticut, Washington and Alaska. The top outbound states were Louisiana, California, Illinois, South Dakota and New York.
The United Kingdom, Bahrain and China topped the list of the top inbound countries, while Panama, India and the Dominican Republic were the top outbound.
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