Fewer People Are Flocking To Colorado Than You Think: Here's Why

COLORADO – Coloradans worry that everyone on earth is moving to the Centennial state, but a an annual study of where people are hiring vans to move doesn't even list Colorado in the Top 10.

People come and go for a variety of reasons: Job change. Retirement. A close family member falls ill. In Colorado, residents most often come and leave for employment-related reasons. That’s according to the 42nd annual “National Movers Study,” conducted by United Van Lines and published this week. The study tracked its customers’ state-to-state migration patterns in 2018.

Here’s what they found for Colorado:

• Inbound
  • Retirement: 15.94 percent
  • Health: 6.16 percent
  • Family: 24.28 percent
  • Lifestyle: 17.57 percent
  • Job: 48.73 percent
• Outbound
  • Retirement: 18.50 percent
  • Health: 9.12 percent
  • Family: 23.06 percent
  • Lifestyle: 13.40 percent
  • Job: 49.06 percent

In Colorado's case, there are more people are leaving the state for retirement, health and jobs than there are coming in.

Find out about other state trends in the interactive map below:

The top inbound states of 2018 were:

1. Vermont
2. Oregon
3. Idaho
4. Nevada
5. Arizona
6. South Carolina
7. Washington
8. North Carolina
9. South Dakota
10. District of Columbia

New to the 2018 top inbound list are Arizona at No. 5 and District of Columbia at No. 10, with 60.2 percent and 56.7 percent inbound moves, respectively, the study said.

Vermont saw the highest percentage of inbound migration at 72.6 percent, and states besides Colorado in the West also proved to be popular destinations. Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Washington all appeared in the top 10 for states with the highest inbound proportion.

Interestingly, more residents left New Jersey than any other state last year, the study found. More than 66 percent of movers in The Garden State headed elsewhere. That was a common thread in the Northeast, the study found, with Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts all in the top 10 outbound states. Several states in the Midwest also appeared near the top of the list.

1. New Jersey, 66.8 percent
2. Illinois, 65.9 percent
3. Connecticut, 62 percent
4. New York, 61.5 percent
5. Kansas, 58.7 percent
6. Ohio, 56.5 percent
7. Massachusetts, 55.7 percent
8. Iowa, 55.5 percent
9. Montana, 55 percent
10. Michigan, 55 percent

“Unlike a few decades ago, retirees are leaving California, instead choosing other states in the Pacific West and Mountain West,” said Michael Stoll, economist and professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to a release. “We’re also seeing young professionals migrating to vibrant, metropolitan economies, like Washington, D.C. and Seattle.”

Stoll said the data aligns well with longer-term migration patterns to the South and West, which have historically been driven by factors such as job growth, lower costs of living, state budget challenges and more temperate climates.

A study from UHaul shows Colorado in-migration dropped in ranking from 9th in 2017 to 16th this year, beaten out by Utah (rising to 4th) and Idaho (rising to 5th).

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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