ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Van Lines, the largest mover in the country, today announced the findings of its 2012 Post-Peak Season Moving Trends Summary, with Washington, D.C. being named the most popular moving destination of the summer.
To capture the city-to-city migration patterns in the U.S., United analyzed domestic moves during the peak moving season – between May 1 and August 31 – when more than 30 percent of all domestic household goods moves take place. This included more than 44,900 interstate household moves managed by United.
As the nation’s largest household goods mover, United collects and maintains data regarding its domestic and international moves. For the last 35 years, United has released an annual domestic migration study, and this latest peak moving season migration study offers unique insight into the current city-to-city moving patterns.
“Our advanced moving management system enables us to accurately and efficiently track customers’ individual shipments during the busiest time of the year,” said Carl Walter, vice president of marketing and communications for United. “As the nation’s largest household goods mover, our annual data reflects overall migration trends, giving us a realistic account of which U.S. cities are gaining and losing population.”
Based on United’s summer moving data, the most popular cities for U.S. families to move to this season were:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Chicago, Ill.
3. Atlanta, Ga.
4.
Phoenix, Ariz.
5. Dallas, Texas
6. Houston, Texas
7.
Seattle, Wash.
8. Charlotte, N.C.
9. Los Angeles, Calif.
10.
Denver, Colo.
11. Boston, Mass.
12. San Diego, Calif.
13.
San Jose, Calif.
14. Minneapolis, Minn.
15. New York, N.Y.
The data also revealed the top cities families were moving from this peak moving season:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Chicago, Ill.
3. Boston, Mass.
4.
Atlanta, Ga.
5. New York, N.Y.
6. Phoenix, Ariz.
7.
Dallas, Texas
8. Los Angeles, Calif.
9. Minneapolis, Minn.
10.
San Diego, Calif.
11. Philadelphia, Pa.
12. Houston, Texas
13.
Seattle, Wash.
14. Denver, Colo.
15. St Louis, Mo.
Although Washington, D.C., Chicago and Atlanta top the list for highest inbound moves, these cities are also at the top of the outbound list. In fact, the cities experiencing growth – more people moving into the metropolitan region than out – were San Jose, Charlotte, Houston, Seattle, Dallas and Phoenix. The cities experiencing the biggest moving deficit (more people moving out than in) were St. Louis, Chicago, New York and Boston.
Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, provided some context for the moves, “Big cities always have more people moving in and out because of their sheer size, but the recent moving trends indicate people and jobs are moving from frost belt to sun belt regions. The trends illustrated in the United Van Lines’ data indicate popular metropolitan destinations are those with lower housing costs, a highly educated labor force or that have growing or mature technology, manufacturing, business services and healthcare industries, sectors where job growth has been more robust than that of the rest of the economy.”
The release of the peak moving season data comes in advance of United’s 36th annual migration study, which tracks the most popular destinations during the entire year. The findings for the full year 2012 will be released in January 2013.
About United Van Lines
United Van Lines is America’s #1 Mover®. In cooperation with its sister company, United Containers, United Van Lines is able to offer a full range of moving solutions from do-it-yourself to full-service. With headquarters in suburban St. Louis, United Van Lines maintains a network of 400 affiliated agencies. For more information about United Van Lines visit UnitedVanLines.com.