LendingTree’s State Migration Study Finds Americans Are Moving South

A LendingTree study looked at where people moving out of state are going — and discovered that of the 12.1% of homebuyers across the country who change states, most prefer to head south. LendingTree reviewed over 2 million new purchase mortgage loan requests for primary residences in all 50 states in 2018 (through mid-November) to find what percentage of all requests were from residents looking to move outside of their current state, and where their destination would be. The results reveal the most popular new locations for homeowners in each state, along with the states with the highest percentage of requests to move to other parts of the country.

Key findings

Florida is the No. 1 destination.

Florida was the top new destination for 15 of the 50 states. Of all purchase mortgage requests during the study’s period, 9.1% were for Florida. For out-of-state movers, 12.4% of requests were for Florida. The Sunshine State has a long history of bringing in visitors and new residents, particularly retirees.

Texas residents love the Lone Star State.

Texas had the highest percentage of residents looking to move within state lines — 93.4% of purchase mortgage requests from individuals in Texas were for properties in the same state. Texas is also a top destination for people moving from out of state, claiming the top spot from six states. Michigan was the state with the second highest percentage of residents looking to move within its borders, at 91.3%.

Alaska has the most residents looking to move away.

By contrast, Alaska had the lowest percentage of residents looking to stay in state at 75.2%. The top destination out of Alaska was Washington state.